


With Every New Beginning

by mandeebobandee



Series: Hogwarts Havoc [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Blood, M/M, Panic Attacks, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-06-30 08:57:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 41
Words: 49,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15748470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mandeebobandee/pseuds/mandeebobandee
Summary: After the events of their fifth year, Virgil Thompson and his friends have to adjust to a new normal. But will things stay that way for long, or is there more trouble coming their way?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is..the much awaited sequel! (I kid, considering I posted the last chapter of the prior story yesterday lol). Trigger warnings for temporary character death and a lot of dark stuff in the first few paragraphs...if you'd like to skip that, you can skip past the italicized part. Also, it may be hard to follow what is happening in this story if you have not read the first story in this series, A Brief History Of Virgil. With that said, I hope you guys enjoy!

_Virgil gaze downward at Astrit. The boy lay on the ground, blood steadily oozing from the gaping wound on his arm. Virgil began to turn back toward the potion._

_  
"Don't you dare! I know what you are planning! You haven't won yet! Astrit, now!" Astrit remained where he lay, though he adjusted the position of his head so that he could meet Logan's gaze. Then he smiled._

_Laughter erupted from deep within Virgil's throat. "Oh my, you actually fell for that? You thought that you'd broken through my spell to communicate with Astrit? How tragic. Now..I've allowed you to annoy me for far too long. Bet to tie up loose ends, don't you think?" Virgil pointed his wand at Logan. "Avada Kedavra!" The Ravenclaw immediately fell silent, unseeing eyes forever locked in their gaze upward toward Virgil._

_Era let out a noise that sounded somewhere between a scream and a sob. Virgil rolled his eyes. "Oh shut up. Avada Kedavra!" Era immediately went as still as Logan. Virgil stuffed his wand back into his pocket and made his way back over to the cauldron. He removed the necklace from its perch upon his neck and let it fall into the potion below..._

_"VIRGIL!"_

Virgil's eyes snapped open as a jolt shot through the entirety of his body. 

_"Virgil? Are you awake?"_

It took Virgil a moment to catch his bearings. This was his bedroom in the flat he shared with his mother in Diagon Alley,  _not_  a hidden cavern beneath the Forbidden Forest. He was hearing his mother's voice. Logan and Era were fine, as was Astrit. He clenched his hands together, then separated them. He had control over his own limbs.

It was merely a nightmare.

 

_"Virgil, there's something here for you!"_

"Coming, mom!" Virgil pushed himself out of bed. He grabbed the empty glass that sat on the table next to his bed. He placed it under the sink once he reached the bathroom and filled it up, trying to ignore how unsteady his hand was as he held the glass under the faucet. Once the glass was mostly filled, Virgil raised it to his lips and took a few gulps.

The glass was only partially filled by the time he made it to the living room, where his mom awaited his arrival. She was not the only one. She had her watchful gaze focused on an owl that continued to flit back and forth from one end of the room to the other, sticking close to the ceiling all the while. Virgil's cat Storm watched it from her perch on the back of the sofa, looking ready to pounce upon this potential feast at the next opportune moment.

This was not their family owl, which meant that it was a delivery from another location. He did not recognize this owl as belonging to any of his friends, though, or his friends' families. He was supposed to meet up with his friends later on anyway to discuss their OWL results and do some shopping for the next school year, it would be silly to send him an owl now...

OWL results! This owl had his OWL results! Seemingly as soon as he reached this realization, the owl flitted before him. The sudden movement on top of his lingering tremors from his recent nightmare resulted in his jumping slightly at the sight, but he quickly sussed out what the owl was doing and held out his hand. The owl dropped an envelope into it, let out a chirp, then flew out the open window and on its way.

 

All before Storm even had a chance to pounce and claim her prize.

Virgil held the envelope in his hands, staring down at it. He glanced up at his mother, who was eying it - and him - eagerly.

_"Well? Are you going to open it?"_

It was nervewracking enough to do this, let alone in front of an audience. His mother would insist on seeing his results eventually though, and he realized this. At least he could pass off the lingering tremble in his hands, if his mother noticed it, as jitters over his OWL results?

If his mother did notice anything, however, she didn't say it out loud. Virgil fumbled a little as he opened the package. He held it within his hand for a moment, face down. His heart was pounding. Then...he flipped it over and read his results one by one.

OWL RESULTS FOR VIRGIL CASEY THOMPSON, SLYTHERIN

ASTRONOMY - E  
CARE OF MAGICAL CREATURES - E  
CHARMS - A  
DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS - O  
DIVINATION - P  
HERBOLOGY - A  
HISTORY OF MAGIC - A  
POTIONS - E  
TRANSFIGURATION - A

 

Virgil sighed in relief. Not only did he pass all of his classes (with the exception of Divination, a class that he did not expect to pass anyway), but he'd earned himself an E in three classes and an O in one!

In fact, an amused grin began to creep its way across the Slytherin's face. He, a  _Seer_  who'd earned a reputation the year before for potential involvement in the Dark Arts,  _failed Divination and passed Defense Against the Dark Arts with flying colors_.

 

Not that many at Hogwarts even knew that he was a Seer - even staff. No, that secret remained between himself and a small yet close-knit group of friends that began to form a few years before with the friendship between himself and a Hufflepuff by the name of Patton Wright and expanded to include several others by the end of the previous year.

He turned the paper so that his mother could see. There was a brief silence while his mother read over the results, then a smile spread across his mother's face.  _"Great job! When you're done shopping for school with your friends I will take you out to dinner to celebrate. You performed better than...well, you did a good job."_

Virgil's own smile faltered as he realized that his mother very nearly compared him to his brother. Though Virgil wasn't a fan of his brother by any means, he wasn't certain that he enjoyed his mother's method of coping with what happened. For the longest time, she tried to deny that anything was wrong with her family, despite the evidence that both her husband and youngest son were growing increasingly involved in the Dark Arts. Now? She tried her best not to acknowledge Virgil's father and brother  _at all_.

 

Living in Diagon Alley meant that he was close to the ice cream parlor the group agreed upon as a meeting place. As such, he was one of the first to arrive. The only one to make it before him was Logan.

_"Greetings, Virgil. I am happy to see that you are well,"_  Logan remarked upon seeing Virgil.

Virgil let out a snort. "You really know how to charm a guy, Logan." He grinned and took a seat next to his boyfriend. As tempting as it was to kiss him then and there, neither of them were big fans of public displays of affection. He did, however, slip his hand under the table and place Logan's hand in his, giving it a squeeze. Logan looked mildly surprised at the sudden sensation, but quickly eased into it.

"So how'd you do on your OWLs? All Os I bet?"

Logan rolled his eyes.  _"Just because I have a certain reputation does not mean that I received an O on every subject of my OWLs."_  He huffed and adjusted the glasses that rested atop his nose.

"So you  _did_  get all Os then."

_"There is no way you could possibly know that without looking at my grades."_

Virgil chuckled, resulting in Logan shooting him a look of puzzlement.  _"What do you find so humorous?"_

 

"I know you  _way_  better than that. You wouldn't be this calm if you scored anything less than an O on any of your OWLs," Virgil grinned.

Logan's face was beginning to turn red.  _"Yes, well...there is no way you would be this calm if you did not do well on your own OWLs!"_

The two remained in silence for a moment, staring one another down until the corners of Virgil's mouth began to crinkle upward beyond his control. "Fine. Here you go, Logan. You may use this however you see fit, up to and including blackmail." He held out his envelope for Logan to take.

Logan did the same with his envelope. Virgil unfolded the paper within.

OWL RESULTS FOR LOGAN DMITRI DICAX, RAVENCLAW

ANCIENT RUNES - O  
ARITHMANCY - O  
ASTRONOMY - O  
CHARMS - O  
DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS - O  
HERBOLOGY - O  
HISTORY OF MAGIC - O  
POTIONS - O  
TRANSFIGURATION - O

Virgil glanced upward with a smirk. "Knew it, all Os. Congrats, Lo."

The two handed their letters back to one another. Logan had a familiar frown on his face, as if he was contemplating something.  _"I assumed that you passed all of your classes on account of how calm you were discussing OWL results, yet your Divination OWL..."_

Virgil laughed. "Yeah, and? Divination never really was my scene, you know?"

_"How can Divination not be your scene? You are a S-"_

"Logan!" The smile on Virgil's face abruptly fell as he hissed Logan's name, and Logan immediately covered his mouth and glanced about. Fortunately, everyone else within the vicinity was either too far away to overhear or too wrapped up in their own conversations to pay any heed.

_"Right,"_  Logan replied, clearing his throat.

"What we learn in class is totally different from...what we've experienced concerning Divination," Virgil explained, so quietly that even Logan had to lean in to hear what Virgil was seeing.

_"Ah, well, in that case..."_

_"Hello lovebirds!"_  A proud, familiar voice announced, and Virgil and Logan immediately pulled away from one another. Approaching the table were Roman and Patton (hand in hand, the hypocrits), with the brother/sister duo of Era and Astrit not far behind.

Once the other four were settled, papers were passed about the table in no particular order. Virgil had the chance to see the others' OWL results as well.

OWL RESULTS FOR ROMAN QUENTIN PRINCE, GRYFFINDOR

ANCIENT RUNES - E  
ASTRONOMY - A  
CHARMS - O  
DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS - E  
HERBOLOGY - A  
HISTORY OF MAGIC - O  
MUGGLE STUDIES - E  
POTIONS - A  
TRANSFIGURATION - E

OWL RESULTS FOR PATTON RYLAN WRIGHT, HUFFLEPUFF

ASTRONOMY - A  
CARE OF MAGICAL CREATURES- O  
CHARMS - A  
DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS - A  
HERBOLOGY - E  
HISTORY OF MAGIC - A  
MUGGLE STUDIES- E  
POTIONS - A  
TRANSFIGURATION - E

OWL RESULTS FOR ERA ALEKSANDËR KASTRATI, GRYFFINDOR

ASTRONOMY - A  
CHARMS - A  
DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS - O  
DIVINATION - E  
HERBOLOGY - P  
HISTORY OF MAGIC - A  
MUGGLE STUDIES - E  
POTIONS - A  
TRANSFIGURATION - A

 

One could hardly be surprised that Era's grades were a tad lower than the rest after all she'd been through the year before. In any case, she was smiling, laughing, and keeping along with just fine so it clearly didn't bother her too badly.

Astrit, on the other hand...

_"Hey kiddo, sorry about this. Must be awfully boring for ya,"_  Patton frowned.

Astrit shrugged.  _"Not really. It gives me an idea of what I can look forward to in a couple of years."_

Nevertheless, the three hastily finished peering at each other's grades and the letters were redistributed to their proper owners. The sextet decided to order ice cream.

Logan read from an issue of the Daily Prophet as the group ate their snacks. Per usual, there were articles in there about Deceit's trial, which was set to start in a few days. Virgil hoped it would be over earlier in the summer, but the trial grew larger and more complicated and thus took a few months to set up in full. 

Virgil couldn't be entirely surprised. It was, after all, a case of a student attacking his fellow students with cursed objects in the hopes of maiming or perhaps even killing them. 

On top of that, it was widely suspected that Deceit was responsible for planting the cursed necklace that contained the spirit of the dark wizard that possessed Virgil the prior school year and nearly killed Astrit.

His brother somehow managed to make his life a living hell even when he was no longer physically present within his life. Go figure.

Once they finished their ice cream, the group set off to go shopping for their supplies for the upcoming school year.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of new characters being introduced here (and one minor character returning)..with some of them it's rather obvious who they are, with others it may be a tad more difficult.

Virgil could hardly believe how fast the rest of the summer flew by. The train ride back to Hogwarts was largely uneventful, though Virgil noticed that Patton seemed a bit more antsy than usual. When he questioned the Hufflepuff about this, however, Patton just smiled and said he was looking forward to the sorting ceremony.  
  
This resulted in Roman trying to start up a betting pool over which first years would be sorted into which house, something that Logan quickly shot down before it grew too out of hand.   
  
One thing that he disliked about the set up of the Great Hall was that he had to be separated from his friends during big announcements - and the Start Of Year Feast was usually full of such announcements. The staff were less strict when it came to seating during regular meals throughout the year, but no one tried to push their luck on the first day of the school year.  
  
Virgil sat next to Elliott. Though Virgil would not consider Elliott a friend in the same way that he did the others, he and Elliott were on fairly good terms. Acquaintances, perhaps, or maybe even casual friends? Nothing major, but at least he had someone he could discuss the sorting ceremony with. He chanced a glance over at Roman, who was pulling coins out of his pocket..he had to resist the urge to chuckle. If Logan caught sight of that, he would rip into Roman for sure. He just hoped that his boyfriend would do so within Virgil's line of sight - That was something that Virgil wanted to see.  
  
Virgil found that he was fairly good at guessing who would be sorted into what house, though every once in a while he found himself surprised by the hat's decision. Virgil wondered if anyone played these sorts of games when he and his friends were being sorted.   
  
The line was nearing its end and most of the students were already sorted. There were a handful of students left, though Virgil couldn't help but note that the three boys near the front of the line not only looked oddly familiar to him, but they all looked alike. Not quite  _identical_ , but they did look like  _brothers_.  
  
Triplets?  
  
_"Wright, Augustine,"_  Virgil stared, his jaw dropping slightly.  
  
_"Wright? Isn't that your friend Patton's last name?"_  Elliott elbowed him in an attempt to get his attention. Virgil looked back at them before answering.  
  
"It is. He said he was looking forward to the sorting ceremony, and I think I just figured out why. He didn't tell me his brothers were starting Hogwarts!" Though Virgil did know that Patton had several younger siblings, he didn't know their exact ages. At least, he hadn't  _before_. He was fairly certain that he knew the ages of three of them now!  
  
Augustine Wright was sorted into Hufflepuff like his older brother. Seth Wright was next, and was quickly sorted into Hufflepuff as well. That left the third brother, Toby, who slowly made his way up to the hat and placed it atop his head.  
  
_"Were first years always that small? We were never that small, were we?"_  Elliott muttered.   
  
Virgil smiled a little at their comment. "Nah, I think they're getting smaller every year."  
  
Virgil fully expected to hear another shout of 'Hufflepuff!' from the hat.  
  
Instead, a shout of  _"SLYTHERIN!"_  echoed through the Great Hall.  
  
_"Damn, look at the little rebel,"_  Elliott commented, though there was a certain fondness in their voice.   
  
Though he was certain that Patton's family was better than his own (at least his father and his brother), he still worried about how Toby would be treated now that he was sorted into a different house than the others. He had no worries that Patton would still accept him (Patton accepted  _Virgil_ , after all, and Virgil was a Slytherin as well), but a quick glance over at the Hufflepuff table told Virgil that Toby's other two brothers were talking between themselves and kept glancing over in Toby's direction.   
  
His attention turned back to the front of the Great Hall when he heard the Headmistress clear her throat. She used an amplifying charm that she aimed toward her throat, then began to speak to the students.   
  
_"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! For all of our returning students, we are happy to have you back, and to our new students, both first years and any exchange students we may have, we are glad to have you! We hope that you will find our school welcoming! Now, before we begin to feast I do have one quick announcement to make. As you might already know, our prior Muggle Studies professor retired at the end of last year. That being said, we have found a replacement, and I believe that you will find that he is more than qualified for the position! Also, I should note that he will be assisting the Healers in the Hospital Wing on occasion, as he has some training in healing as well. Students and staff alike, I would like to introduce you to Professor Emile Picani!"_  
  
The Great Hall filled with applause as a man stood up at the staff table, giving a few bows. Virgil's first impression was that this 'Professor Picani' somehow reminded him of both Patton and Logan at the same time.   
  
_"Hello! Do you how do?"_  The man gave a half wave and beamed at the students in front of him before taking a seat.  
  
Yep, this man  _definitely_  reminded him of both Patton and Logan. Patton in his sunny demeanor, Logan in his looks and the way that he seemed to carry himself.  
  
_"LET'S EAT!"_  The Headmistress announced, and no one in the Great Hall needed to be told twice to start piling food on their plate.  
  
After dinner, the 'group' was able to meet for a brief period of time outside of the Great Hall.  
  
_"I did not know that your brothers would be starting school this year, Patton!"_  Logan told the Hufflepuff.   
  
Patton just giggled.  _"Nah, I didn't wanna make that big of a deal about it before it happened. I didn't want you to start crowding around my brothers and start asking them questions. They were already nervous enough!"_  
  
"They didn't seem very nervous to me. And trust me, I know nervous," Virgil observed.  
  
_"You didn't see them at home last night. I think once they got here the excitement started to outweigh the nerves."_  Patton smiled.  
  
_"Don't you have even more younger siblings?"_  Era piped up.  
  
_"I do. There's Mabel, who starts next year. Then there's Juniper who starts a couple of years after her. And that's it!"_  Patton beamed. No wonder Patton had such a dad complex. He was the oldest of six siblings! Virgil  _knew_ , of course, but somehow seeing three of Patton's siblings in the flesh served to drive the point home that much more.  
  
_"We should be heading to our dorms. I for one need to instruct the first year Ravenclaws where to go. I must take my leave, but I shall see all of you tomorrow. Virgil,"_  Logan briefly peered around to make certain that no one other than their small group was looking, and gave Virgil a small peck on the lips.  _"I'll see you in Astronomy."_  
  
Then he walked off, calling out for all first year Ravenclaws to follow him. Virgil grinned.  
  
He and Patton made their way down to the lower levels of the castle, where both the Slytherin and the Hufflepuff Common Rooms were located. Era's good friend Paige joined them, and the three of them carried on casual conversation until Virgil had to separate from the other two as they headed to the Hufflepuff Common Room while he made his way into the Slytherin one.   
  
He was sitting in a corner of the Common Room peering over his schedule for the next day when he caught a glimpse of movement in his peripheral vision. He glanced up from what he was doing, surprised to find a first year gazing back at him. And not just  _any_  first year.  
  
_"Hi,"_  Toby Wright greeted him.   
  
"Hi...?" Virgil responded, unsure why this kid was walking up to him and what he wanted.  
  
_"You know Patton, right?"_  
  
"You're right, I do know Patton Wright," Virgil couldn't help it. Fortunately the boy chuckled.  
  
_"Yeah, you definitely know Patton."_  
  
The awkward silence that ensued left Virgil feeling vaguely on edge. "Anything else you need, kid?"   
  
_"It's just...Ithinkyoureyeshadowisreallycool!"_  
  
Virgil blinked. It took a moment to decipher what the kid said, as he spoke so fast. "Did you say you like my eyeshadow?"  
  
The boy beamed. This was the happiest he'd seen the boy look since..well, ever. Even standing in line to be sorted, the boy's brothers were eagerly chatting back and forth with one another. The third boy stood off to the side.  _"I did! How do you do that?"_  
  
Virgil tapped his chin. "I think I'd have to check with your brother first, but if he says it's okay I could show you how I do it?  
  
Toby smiled.  _"That would be great! Thanks!"_  
  
Virgil watched as Toby went off to talk to a couple of other first years, then turned his attention back to his schedule. He thought that Patton's brothers and this new professor were the only things that he would have to worry about for the time being.   
  
Sadly, there was no such luck. That said, at least Virgil would be spared the bad news until the next morning.  
  
One of the first things to greet him when he woke up, however, would be the headline on the front page of the Daily Prophet. Said headline read, in large, bold print 'LIONEL THOMPSON ON THE RUN'.


	3. Chapter 3

The next few days proved challenging to get through, and it was all because of the multiple headlines and articles that his brother appeared in over that same time period. Classes weren't bad, and he and Logan were growing closer than ever now that they were housed under the same roof once more, but there was also the inevitable fallout that came from Deceit's escape.  
  
A Ministry employee came to ask if he might know his brother's whereabouts. Some of his fellow students treated him as if he'd singlehandedly helped his brother escape, like he was still  _affiliated_ with his brother somehow. Virgil dwelled on the subject of what his brother might be up to. His father proclaimed to know nothing of his eldest son's whereabouts, though he had a strong suspicion that Lionel Thompson knew more than he was letting on. Would Deceit return back to the castle, or did he have other plans in mind? Did he even have a plan?  
  
Classes began. Virgil signed up for Astronomy, which would be with Logan now that they were at NEWT level. Virgil did have a true interest in Astronomy itself..but it would be a lie of omission to pretend that Logan's presence in the class wasn't a motivator as well. Era continued on with that class as well, as did Paige.  
  
He also continued with Care of Magical Creatures with Patton, and Potions with Logan. He didn't perform as well in Charms, but he continued with that class as well, his mother advising him to stick with either Charms or Transfiguration if he had to choose one.  
  
Defense Against the Dark Arts seemed like the most solid option of all, not only because he'd performed his best in that class but also also because he possessed a genuine investment in what he was learning. He wanted to know how to protect himself and those he cared about. He saw Dark Magic and the horrors it entailed the year before, after all; as did his friends, which was why it came as no surprise to Virgil when he learned that Defense Against the Dark Arts was the only class he shared with all of them. Logan, Patton, Roman, Era, and even Paige - every single member of their group that descended into the cavern beneath the Forbidden Forest at the end of the prior year, in other words (save Astrit, though his status as a fourth year made his absence from a sixth year NEWT class more than understandable).  
  
Virgil rounded the corner and was about to enter the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom when a couple of Gryffindors from the year above him approached.  _"My eyes must be playing tricks on me. Anxiety Thompson, entering Defense Against the Dark Arts?"_  one of them remarked. Virgil tensed a little at the old nickname. It was hard to believe that he used to wear that name like a badge of pride.  
  
..more like that was what he tried to  _convince_  himself at the time.  
  
The other Gryffindor boy tittered.  _"You must have the wrong class. Dark Arts is around the corner."_  
  
Virgil felt his heart rate spike, accompanied by a sensation within his chest as if someone punched him and knocked all of the air out of him. "Nah, I'm pretty sure I have the right place. You said this was Defense Against the Dark Arts? Well I passed my OWL, so I'm pretty sure I belong here. Now if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be."   
  
Virgil did not give the older boys a chance to respond, ducking into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom while they were still processing his comeback. He hastily made his way to his seat, closing his eyes for a moment. His head felt light and fuzzy, and he hoped that by figuratively shutting out the world for a moment or so he would be able to regain his composure before things  _really_  spun out of his control.

Also before class started, because having a panic attack on his first day of NEWT level Defense Against the Dark Arts wouldn't making for the most promising sign of what was to come for the rest of the school year.  
  
_"You okay there Virge? You look a bit pale,"_  Virgil opened his eyes at Patton's voice. Patton slid into the seat next to him, Roman taking the seat next to that.   
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired, that's all," Virgil shrugged, starting to pull his supplies out of his schoolbag.  
  
_"Doubtful. What is happening with Deceit must be weighing on you,"_  Logan observed in response, taking the seat on the other side of Virgil.   
  
"Why do you  _think_  I'm tired?" It was true, he had stayed up for part of the night before going through scenario after scenario of what Deceit might be up to and where he might go.  
  
He also had to deal with busybodies poking their nose into his business, like the jerks he'd encountered outside of this classroom. It was one thing to be curious about Virgil's relation to Deceit. It was another to accuse him of involvement in the Dark Arts. He wasn't even reading any Dark Arts book this year!   
  
...good thing he hadn't tried to use  _that_  argument with the seventh year Gryffindors.

The professor came in shortly after. Virgil didn't pay much heed to what the professor was saying until the professor asked a question of the class.  
  
_"Who present can name one of the three Unforgiveable Curses?"_

Virgil immediately glanced around the room as a few hands went up. Though he knew the answer, Virgil did not raise his hand. He did not like volunteering answers unless he was directly called upon, and he did not want to add any more fuel to the rumors already going around about him and his supposed involvement with Deceit and Dark Arts as a whole.  
  
Professor Goodwin called on a Ravenclaw girl first.  _"The Killing Curse. Avada Kedavra."_  
  
Professor Goodwin shot the girl a wry smile.  _"Yes, that is the first one students usually get...five points to Ravenclaw. What about the other two curses?"_  
  
Virgil could see Logan's hand shoot high up into the air beside him.  _"The Cruciatus Curse, with an incantation of Crucio, is widely regarded as the torture curse. It generates a sensation of intense suffering within the spell's victim. It is such a powerful sensation, in fact, that prolonged exposure to the spell can induce insanity..."_  
  
Virgil's gaze fell upon his desk.  _He_  cast the Cruciatus Curse toward Logan in the cavern the prior year. Logan was able to deflect it, but had he not he would have been subjected to the full brunt of the curse. Virgil knew what the curse was and what it did even then, as he watched his hands and mouth cast it beyond his control, but hearing the effects described in such detail by Logan...Virgil could not suppress the shudder that coursed through him.

Virgil felt Logan's hand on his.  _"Don't,"_  Logan whispered, just loud enough for Virgil to hear him.  _"I've told you once and I will continue to tell you as many times as you need to hear it - It's not your fault."_  
  
Virgil opened his mouth to respond, but it was at that point that Professor Goodwin called on her third volunteer. It was Era, seated across the room next to Paige, who answered.  _"The..Imperius Curse. It allows the caster control over the person they cast it on. It can, however, be fought."_    
  
Virgil could count the number of times that he'd heard Era's voice that soft on one hand. It stood to reason that Era would think of the Imperius Curse - It was cast on her brother the year before, after all. She would also be well aware that the Imperius Curse could be fought, seeing as she'd witnessed her brother's successful turn against it the year before.  
  
Professor Goodwin smiled.  _"I'm glad that you mentioned resisting the Imperius Curse, Miss Kastrati, because that is what we will be focusing on in class next week. Now I do recognize that the nature of this Curse may be difficult for some of you, and am willing to offer exemptions if a student or students feel uncomfortable with the prospect of being under a spell that places them under the control of someone else for one reason or another. I will, however, note that I do not intend to make you do anything dangerous, and I also encourage you to participate if you feel that you can - not because I wish to make you uncomfortable, but because I wish to prepare you in the case that you do encounter this danger outside of the classroom."_  
  
Virgil gaped at the professor, surprised at her candidness concerning the subject matter. Having been under the control of a Dark Wizard the year prior, Virgil was incredibly hesitant to participate..and yet he almost felt a  _need_  to participate?  
  
The prospect of finding himself trapped and helpless like that again bothered him  _immensely_. He hid his hands under the table to disguise the tremors coursing through them. If he reacted like this to the mere suggestion, how would he react to the actual spell?  
  
And yet...  
  
He wanted to know how to defend himself, in case he or his friends ever encountered anything like this again. He did not want to be placed under the curse at  _all_ , but he reasoned that he would rather be placed under the curse in a somewhat safe environment surrounded by friends as opposed to something that bore more of a similarity to Astrit's situation the year prior.   
  
The quartet left the classroom in a solemn mood, understandable given the circumstances. They were soon joined by Era and Paige.  
  
_"I'm going to do it. Anything I need to learn to take out dark wizards, I will make it my quest,"_ Roman announced, raising a fist and clenching it as if to accentuate his point.  
  
_"I, too, see the merits of learning how to fight against such a dangerous curse. I will be participating as well,"_  Logan agreed.  
  
_"It sounds a little scary..but we'll be in class, right? The professor already said she'd make sure nothing bad happened!"_  Patton pointed out.  
  
_"She did. I think it's unlikely we'll find an opportunity like this anywhere else,"_  Paige said.  
  
The four who already commented turned toward Virgil and Era, the two most likely to skip out on the lesson entirely for...obvious reasons.  
  
"Keep staring at us like that. It really helps with the decision making process," Virgil remarked dryly.  
  
_"Yes, it's very calming,"_  Era added, sarcasm practically dripping from her voice.   
  
"If you guys are waiting for our verdict though...I'm going to try to participate. I don't really  _like_ the idea, but I'd rather practice here than in a real world situation like last year."  
  
_"And I'm in agreement with Virgil. Who knows, maybe I can even ask my baby brother for pointers,"_  Era shot the group a wry smile. There was a note of pride in Era's voice, and Virgil could hardly blame her. They would be learning how to counteract the Imperius Curse in their  _NEWT_  level class, while her brother managed it at the end of his third year.  
  
If this was the start of Defense Against the Dark Arts? He could only imagine what the rest of the school year would entail.


	4. Chapter 4

It took some time for Virgil to get into the swing of things with classes. NEWT students had entirely different schedules than they did during their first through fifth years. Though this stood to reason as their classes were more specialized, it still made for some adjustments.  
  
Despite having both earned As on their OWLs, Virgil and Era were both in Charms class. Despite their mere average grades in the class, the Charms professor reasoned that they'd still passed, and thus A students could continue at NEWT level. How would they ever improve otherwise?  
  
The Charms professor was a pleasant witch who went by the name of Dot. She had a last name, but preferred that students address her by her first name. She seemed to have an easier time teaching younger students, but even though her style was more suited for the younger population at the school? Her passion for the subject showed, and it was hard not to at least  _try_  to succeed in her class.

Also in the class were Patton and Roman, but as Charms was often a class that utilized hands on practice, they often partnered up - and as Patton and Roman clearly partnered up with one another, that left Virgil and Era. Neither of them were particularly social outside the small groups of friends that they did have. The only other person Virgil might consider pairing off with was Elliott, and they were already partnered off with a guy by the name of Kai that Virgil saw around a few times but never really interacted with.  
  
Era would ordinarily pair off with Paige, but Paige was not in Charms.  
  
_"Today we will be learning the stunning charm!"_  Dot announced to the class with her usual cheery smile.  
  
_"Prof-er, I mean Dot, I think you might have the wrong class? We did stunning spells years ago..."_ A Hufflepuff boy brought up.  
  
Dot did not miss a beat.  _"We sure did! But this is the stunning spell with a twist. You'll be practicing casting the spell nonverbally!"_  
  
Nonverbal spells. A thought occurred to Virgil - If he were able to cast nonverbal spells in the Forbidden Forest, would he have still been able to pose a challenge even though the Dark Wizard was controlling him physically? It was an intriguing thought, and it made him eager to get started on their practice.  
  
Virgil and Era both rose to their feet. Virgil readied his stance and looked across at Era. He frowned immediately. Era was swaying slightly. where she stood, as if she had a hard time maintaining her balance.  
  
"You okay there Era? You look like you've already been stunned and I haven't even done anything yet."  
  
Era nodded.  _"I'm fine. Just feeling...there's been a lot on my mind, with Astrit..."_  
  
"How's he holding up after everything?"  
  
_"Not too badly, it's just...the Imperius Curse..."_  
  
Comprehension dawned at once. "Era, I think we need to take you to the Hospital Wing."  
  
Era shot him a bewildered expression.  _"I just said I was fine..."_  
  
"Maybe, but I'd feel better if Madam Foster checked you over. C'mon," Virgil motioned for Era to follow him, though he stayed close by in case something happened that led to Era losing her balance. She could walk well enough, but she was still unsteady enough on her feet that he felt it was necessary to take that extra precaution.  
  
Dot, who was helping two students near the door, glanced over at them as they passed.   
  
"Era isn't feeling well. I'm taking her to the Hospital Wing to get checked over," Virgil announced as they were headed out the door, not stopping to see how Dot responded. Hopefully she would be able to see for herself how Era was doing.   
  
Virgil took a turn down a deserted corridor and stopped, leaning against a wall. Era peered around, then shot him a look of confusion.  _"This isn't the Hospital Wing. The Hospital Wing is in the other direction,"_  she told him, eying him up and down.   
  
"I know. We're not going to the Hospital Wing," Virgil responded. Era stared at him as if he'd just informed her with a dead serious expression that the moon was made of cheese.  
  
_"You told Dot we were headed to the Hospital Wing, you said I didn't look good..and honestly you're right, I don't...I don't feel well, but I don't get what you're doing?"_  
  
"Its been a while since you've given a prophecy, hasn't it?" Virgil inquired.   
  
Era looked even more puzzled.  _"Since third year, but what does that have to do with anything?"_  
  
"I think you're about to give a prophecy," Virgil decided to get to the point. It would be better if Era had some sort of warning, and he wasn't sure how much time he had to give it.  
  
_"...what?"_  
  
"You're feeling  _off_ , your mind is sluggish. I've been there. And...I didn't think you'd want to give a prophecy in front of the entire class. I might be wrong, you might just be tired or getting sick or something, but..."  
  
_"Thanks, Virgil,"_  Era interrupted him.  
  
"Oh. Uh, you're welcome," Virgil responded.   
  
Era frowned, leaning back against the wall as well.  _"So what is your plan?"_  
  
"Would you believe I didn't get that far?"  
  
Era laughed.  _"Nope, not at all. You're not the fly by the seat of your pants sort of person."_  
  
Virgil chuckled. "Well you're not wrong. My plan was to wait it out here for a while. Hardly anyone comes down this corridor. I know because...reasons," Virgil shrugged. Said reasons were that he'd snuck out to this hallway to make out with Logan, but she didn't need to know those details. Dating a prefect really helped when it came to knowing how populated certain areas of the school were at certain times of day.  
  
"After you make a prophecy, or after we've been here a while - whichever comes first - we'll head down to the Hospital Wing," Virgil explained the second phase of his plan. If Era did give a prophecy she'd likely feel much better after she gave said prophecy, but actually going to the Hospital Wing would give them something to retort with if anyone asked them questions.

Era went to reach for something in her bag, though her hand froze in mid-air. Virgil's eyes shot wide and he immediately dove into his own bag, rummaging around for a pen and paper. A hard jolt went through Virgil's entire being as Era began to speak in a loud, deep voice - A voice that did not sound like hers in the least. No wonder Roman compared Virgil's 'prophecy voice' the year before to something demonic.  
  
**_"BEWARE OF FALSE TRUTHS AND WHAT MAY HIDE. GHOSTS FROM THE PAST CONTINUE TO HAUNT. SACRIFICES NEED BE MADE. THE ROAD AHEAD IS NOT EASY, BUT THOSE WHO ARE DESERVING WILL BE REWARDED."_**  
  
Virgil pressed the sheet of paper against the wall and set to work. He had no time to decipher the meaning, only to inscribe the message. He noted movement out of the corner of his eye and reached his hand out to catch Era, who took a couple of steps forward to catch herself. She let her hand fall to her side.   
  
_"So how did you like your first time seeing a prophecy?"_  
  
Virgil shook his head, brushing a particularly stubborn hair to the side of his face. "It's...Merlin that was  _creepy_. Uh, no offense?" If he did not have to see Era drop into a trance like that again for the rest of his life, he would not complain.   
  
_"None taken. You pulled off the creepy routine twice last year in front of me. It's about time I hit you back,"_  Era responded with the slightest of smirks.  
  
Virgil inhaled deeply. "You'll want to see what this says."  
  
Era sighed.  _"I figured you would say that."_  She took the paper from him, her eyes scanning over the words in question. She let out a whistle as she handed the paper back to him.  _"I think the others need to see this."_  
  
"Tonight at 7?"  
  
Era nodded.  _"Tonight at 7. I'll tell Paige and Astrit, you tell Patton, Logan, and Roman."_  
  
Virgil ran a hand through his hair. "Now let's get you to the Hospital Wing..."


	5. Chapter 5

_"I'm surprised Era wasn't making any prophecies last year! She's gone a long time without making one, hasn't she? Since our third year!"_  Roman exclaimed as he, Virgil, Logan, and Patton hiked up to their usual abandoned classroom to meet up with Era, Paige, and Astrit. Virgil glanced about, thankful that the majority of students preferred to avoid the areas of the castle that contained the highest quantity of classrooms during hours that classes were not in session.   
  
Good, otherwise he might have had to tear into Roman for starting rumors about Era making another prophecy - Exactly what he and Era were trying to avoid earlier, and exactly why they would be conducting the majority of this conversation behind closed doors with a silencing charm placed on them.  
  
As it was, he still did another sweep of the deserted hallway to make certain. One could never be too certain.   
  
_"I am not. Seers may go years between making prophecies, and some Seers have been known to only give one prophecy in their lives. Others may be subject to them on a daily basis. It widely varies,"_  Logan explained.   
  
Virgil cast a quick yet grateful look at Logan. He experienced both - a lull of many years between prophecies, as well as several prophecies given within a short period of time. Not only did Logan save Virgil from the awkwardness of having to explain something that he struggled to cope with on occasion, but he confirmed that what Virgil experienced the prior year was just as normal as the  _years_  that passed in between his first and second prophecies.  
  
He felt for Era, he really did, but she seemed to understand just as well as he did that this was something that needed to be discussed with several others present.  
  
Virgil had yet to tell anyone the contents of the prophecy, though he'd come close to telling Logan. He really wanted to hash out any possible details of the prophecy and what it entailed,  _knowing_ that Logan would be just as game to have such discussions, but...nah, the others needed to know too.  
  
Despite saying nothing of the prophecy's contents, the others seemed to at least sense that the subject matter contained within the prophecy was heavy.  
  
Virgil was relieved when the group reached the door to their abandoned classroom. Pulling it open, Virgil noted that either he, Logan, Patton, and Roman were the first to arrive, or Era, Astrit, and Paige had one hell of an invisibility cloak.

Virgil took a seat in his usual spot, reaching into his bag and pulling out the notebook containing the written record of the prophecy in question. Virgil found himself wondering what would happen if he, Era, or any other Seer happened to make a prophecy but no one was around to hear it.   
  
He supposed that was a mystery for another day.  
  
Era and Paige entered the room, followed shortly behind by Astrit, who Virgil could not help but note looked a little nervous.  
  
_Right, this is his first time here,_  Virgil thought to himself. Astrit was being held captive by the dark wizard during most of their impromptu meetings the year prior.  
  
Once Era, Paige, and Astrit were seated and pleasantries were exchanged, it was finally time to discuss the reason they were all gathered in the first place. Era's eyes met his and she gave him a nod.  
  
...crap. As the only one who heard the prophecy, he'd be expected to read it aloud to everyone else.  
  
_Its okay, they're your friends, its different than an entire classroom full of your peers..._  This wasn't quite  _public speaking_. Public speaking involved standing in front of an entire classroom and giving a speech. Virgil's stomach lurched at the mere thought.  
  
This, on the other hand...his heart rate increased slightly as he could feel all of his friends' eyes on him, but...the nerves were different? He was more concerned about how worried his friends would be about the contents of the prophecy than he was about his friends hearing what he had to say and judging him for it.  
  
He cleared his throat as he glanced down at the scrawl in his notebook and began to read it out loud. "Beware of false truths and what may hide. Ghosts from the past continue to haunt. Sacrifices need be made. The road ahead is not easy, but those who are deserving will be rewarded."  
  
There was a moment's silence. Then -  _"False truths? Doesn't that contradict itself?"_  Paige wondered.  
  
_"Its another way of saying lie. And lie is another way of saying Deceit,"_  Roman growled.  
  
_"The first bit may very well be about Deceit. He certainly is in hiding. But...we have the rest of the prophecy to consider as well,"_  Logan took a quick glance over at the words written in Virgil's nearly illegible scrawl (he'd been in a rush to get it all written down after all, his typical handwriting was a lot neater).  _"Ghosts from the past can mean many things, but I'm more interested in what sacrifices must be made, and what this supposed reward is for the most deserving."_  
  
Virgil was concerned about the  _whole thing_ , but managed to bite his tongue. He didn't particularly want to speak in front of the others while he was still attempting to collect his thoughts.

 _"Who or what is going to decide who is most deserving?"_  said Astrit in a quiet voice. Everyone else fell silent at that.  
  
_"I...that could mean anything,"_  Patton's voice shook a little, and Roman put a hand on his boyfriend's shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

There was one thing that they could apparently all agree upon after several more moments of circular discussion that kept leading them back to the same place they began- They had far too little information to go on if they hoped to correctly decipher what this prophecy meant at this point in time.  
  
"We can't just  _let_  the prophecy happen! We have to keep trying!" Virgil blurted out at last, wringing his hands together. Logan immediately shot him a concerned expression and reached out to place the Slytherin's hand in his, giving it a comforting squeeze.  
  
_"We will keep trying to decipher it, Virgil. But we also may be forced to accept that there is little that we can do to change the future, especially with what limited information we actually possess,"_ Logan explained.  
  
_"Yeah, kiddo! Try not to beat yourself up over it,"_  Patton shot him a warm smile.  
  
Virgil let out a snort, though he had calmed somewhat from the moment he made his outburst. "I thought you knew me better than that," he teased. Of course he would beat himself up over it. He could  _try_  to think positively, but there were also times where that proved to be quite a challenge.  
  
_"While I agree with Patton that you should not beat yourself up over this, nor should any of us...I don't think it's realistic to think that any of us will not dwell upon this,"_  Era confessed.  _"This will undoubtedly remain on all of our minds until we reach a breakthrough, or some part of the prophecy actually comes true. There's no way that it couldn't."_  
  
Era would prove to be right, of course. They waited with bated breath for the snake that lay coiled within the grass, readying itself for its first strike.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for accidental self-harm and other injuries ahead, as well as discussions of traumatic experiences and how they effect the characters.

_"What was it that you said last year about how we should stop meeting like this, Virgil?"_  
  
Virgil cracked his eyes open at the sound of Logan's voice. It took a moment for his vision to focus on the figure beside the bed. "Hey Lo," he greeted his boyfriend, his voice scratchy. He winced, rubbing his throat. It felt mildly sore.   
  
 _"Um...yeah, you were...you were screaming pretty loudly before they had to sedate you,"_  Roman's voice came from the other side of him.   
  
Virgil looked at his friends in confusion. He knew that he was in the hospital wing, but the last thing that he remembered was that he was in Defense Against the Dark Arts, stepping up for his turn against...  
  
Oh. Right. The Imperius Curse.  
  
 _"On the bright side you...sorta fought against it?"_  Patton explained, reaching out and giving Virgil's shoulder a squeeze. Virgil flinched hard, causing Patton to extract his hand immediately.   
  
Virgil shot an apologetic look toward the Hufflepuff. "Sorry about that Pat. I guess I'm still a little on edge."  
  
He recalled what happened now...to some extent. He recalled being placed under the Imperius Curse. He recalled the gentle suggestions being placed into his mind. He recalled nearly going along with them...  
  
Then the memories from the prior year resurfaced. He realized that something else,  _someone else was controlling him and he needed to get free NOW_.  
  
He'd done what he could to wrestle back control of himself, but given the fragile state of his mind at the time he wasn't entirely sure what was actually happening and what was brought on by the curse. He reached up to pat down his bangs, only to feel his hand brush against something on his cheek. He also had a bandage on his arm. He frowned. Where had that come from?  
  
"What...what happened?" Roman had a small bruise from when he fought back against the Imperius Curse as well. Roman's turn came before Virgil's, and he'd accidentally misstepped and fallen flat on his face. The class roared into nervous laughter. The sight was amusing, but all the same...the majority of the class also realized the forces at play that made it that way. "Did I fall like Roman?"  
  
Patton shook his head. His eyes were wide.

Upon closer inspection, he realized that he and Roman were not the only ones with signs of injury. Patton's nose was busted up, as if it suffered a direct him from someone's fist. Had Patton gotten into a fight on his behalf again?  
  
And on closer inspection, Roman had...a claw mark on his cheek?  
  
"What the hell happened to you guys?" Now that he saw his friends' injuries, he was wondering what did this to them...and how he wound up where he was now. If he didn't know better he'd say the class erupted into an all out brawl.  
  
The three of them - Logan, Patton, and Roman - exchanged glances but said nothing. That only made him more suspicious. "Tell me. Who did this to you? Was it Deceit's cronies? I was wondering why they were being so quiet after Deceit disappeared," Virgil glowered.   
  
 _"It was you, actually,"_  Patton admitted hesitantly.  
  
...what?  
  
"I...did...when? When I was under the Imperius Curse? The professor made me do this? Why would she make me do this? Why wouldn't I fight back against her? How..." The Slytherin was so entrapped within the endless spiral that was consuming his thoughts that he didn't realize that his speech was growing more high-pitched and frantic, that the words were tumbling forth from his mouth at a faster and faster rate, mimicking his own thoughts.  
  
 _"Virgil,"_  Logan was beside him.  _"Breathe."_

Virgil attempted to breath in for four seconds.

_"Hold your breath for seven seconds,"_  Logan told him. This was easier said than done when one felt as if they were suffocating, but he  _tried_.

_"Breathing out for eight seconds,"_  Logan continued.

It was a monumental task but after a few moments (with the aid of Logan's words, which helped to ground him and give him something else to focus on), Virgil felt okay enough to talk once more.

...only when he opened his mouth, no words came out. He was calm enough to talk, but was at a loss for what to say.

_"You had...an exceptionally poor reaction to the Imperius Curse."_  Logan said at last.

"I'll say, if it made me attack you," Virgil grumbled.

_"It wasn't like that! You were...freaking out. Badly,"_  Patton frowned. 

_"We probably should not have even approached you, given your frazzled state,"_  Logan continued.  _"Your sympathetic nervous system was in overdrive. You...we had to step in because you were a danger to yourself. I would imagine that you felt trapped within your own skin while you were under the curse?"_

Virgil felt his entire body tense up, but managed a nod. That was one of the few things that he  _did_ remember from before he found himself in the Hospital Wing.

 

_"We could, uh, kinda tell,"_  Roman explained warily.

_"You were clawing at your skin,"_  Patton explained. 

_"Then, when you realized that you could not flee...you flipped into fight mode."_  Roman continued.

Comprehension dawned on Virgil at last. That explained both the bandages on himself as well as the injuries on his friends. "I was hurting myself. You guys stepped in to stop it, and I..."

He turned to Logan, who nodded. Virgil glanced downward, picking at a loose string on the side of his bedsheets. He was already headed steadily down the path of self blame. Fortunately, Logan recognized this and hastily attempted to steer the subject into less dicey waters.  _"You weren't the only one who reacted badly to the Imperius Curse. Other than Roman who did a free dive into the floor..."_  

_"Hey! At least I fought back against it!"_  Roman snapped.

_"You did, and that was valiant of you. I am simply stating how you looked when you, quite literally, flung yourself face first into the ground."_

Virgil glanced around. "Where are Era and Paige?"

_"I was getting to that. Era was unable to fight the Imperius Curse, as you are well aware. Most of the class was, with the exception of yourself, Roman, and a couple of others."_

Virgil nodded. He was aware of that much.

 

_"She held it together long enough to get through class, but once class let out, and after everything that happened to you...she burst into tears talking about how she failed her brother and Paige took her off somewhere. I would imagine the two are talking right now,"_  Patton frowned, clearly troubled by everything that happened.

_"I realize that we need to learn how to defend ourselves against Dark Magic...but perhaps, with everything considered, we should be careful moving forward. What we have experienced - all of us - does not just go away. It is entirely understandable that Virgil would panic when confronted with a similar situation, and Era likely feels guilty that she could not aid her brother more. I...little as I like to admit it, I am not doing the greatest after this class either. I witnessed and dueled the wizard controlling Virgil. The parallels were there and made me uneasy the entire time, but pride forbade me from speaking up earlier. Had I done so..."_  Logan cast his eyes downward. Virgil jolted, feeling foolish for not realizing how much this was affecting Logan as well. He immediately took Logan's hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze, the corners of his mouth turning upward into a faint smile. A faint smile that Logan returned, much to Virgil's relief.

_"We'll look out for each other,"_  Patton said. Virgil and Logan both glanced over at him.

  
_"Patton is correct. We may not be the best judges of our own limitations...I know that all too well,"_ Roman added, chuckling a little before continuing,  _"but we can look out for each other, realize what might upset the other person, and take steps to prevent something like this from happening again?"_

Patton nodded, a small smile spreading across his face. Virgil and Logan soon followed.

_"That seems like an advisable course of action. Excellent work, you two,"_  Logan nodded once more as if to accentuate his point.

"When did they say I would get out of here?" Virgil asked the other three.

_"Just long enough for Madam Foster to look you over again and make sure you're okay,"_  Patton smiled, and Virgil was immediately grateful for his doing so. Patton's smile had a way of comforting anyone who saw it. Perhaps it came from experience, needing to comfort five younger siblings at home?

He glanced at the door, watching as an unfamiliar owl fluttered into the Hospital Wing. It swooped around the room once, then proceeded to drop an envelope onto Virgil's bed before flying off.

Virgil glanced down at the envelope. His blood ran cold as soon as he caught sight of his name written on the front.

 

It was not the name itself that concerned him. It was the fact that it was written in his  _brother's_ handwriting.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This wasn't how I pictured the chapter going at first but it was how it turned out so hey XD

Virgil glanced down at the piece of paper in his hands for what felt like the hundredth time. He wondered if his brother considered it to be an insult. Virgil personally considered it a blessing.  
  
It was a picture of their family tree, something that many pureblood families like theirs had hanging in their houses almost as a point of pride. Virgil doubted this was his brother's intent, but he felt a surge of a different sort of pride when he saw that he and his mother were conspicuously absent from said family tree. There were blank spots where their names should be, but no actual names there.  
  
 _Good._  Now if only he could erase his association with his brother as easily as his name was removed from that family tree. He briefly wondered if he should have changed his last name the same way that his mother did, but realized that would do little to help at school. If anything, changing his last name in his 6th year when those who knew him already knew him as either Virgil Thompson or his old moniker of  _Anxiety_  Thompson would generate more attention. That was the opposite of what he wanted.  
  
He'd since been released from the Hospital Wing, his wounds as well as those of his friends mostly healed. He still felt guilty for what happened, though he was also grateful that his friends understood that he wasn't in the best mental space when everything occurred.

The rest of September flew by in a flash. Virgil heard nothing else from or about Deceit, which was great - no news was good news when it came to Lionel Thompson.  
  
October meant they were one month closer to their birthdays. Most of their friend group had birthdays in the later part of the year or the beginning of the next year. Logan's birthday would come first, on November 3rd. Next was Era's on November 28th, followed by Virgil's own birthday on December 19th. Patton's was January 15th and Astrit's was on February 17th. Only Roman and Paige had late birthdays, in June and August respectively.  
  
One birthday a month in his friend group for the next several months meant that he had his work cut out for him shopping for birthday gifts. Then there was Christmas on top of that.   
  
Virgil knew exactly where to go in Hogsmeade to search for a gift for his boyfriend. He entered Tomes and Scrolls, the Hogsmeade bookstore, and began to look around.  
  
 _"May I help you?"_  a woman with a kind face greeted him. Nevertheless, Virgil jumped in surprise and cursed at himself mentally for doing so.  
  
"I'm, er, looking for a gift for someone. He's...he's turning 17, so I want it to be something good," Virgil explained. 17 was the age that wizards came of age, after all. It was a special birthday and Virgil wanted to get Logan something special for it. He just wasn't entirely sure where to start. There were so many books, and Logan did so much reading...what if he accidentally bought Logan a book that he already had?  
  
 _"What sort of books is he interested in?"_  the woman inquired.  
  
"A lot of different kinds. He's a bit of a bookworm," Virgil answered, then realized that his answer wouldn't provide much help when it came to narrowing down their options.  
  
Fortunately, the woman was apparently used to such answers, and quickly amended her approach.  _"Well what is he interested in outside of books?"_  
  
Virgil thought for a moment. "He loves Astronomy. He looks forward to every class. Our first date..." Virgil's hand flew to his mouth.  
  
The woman chuckled lightly.  _"Oh, so this is for someone extra special on an extra special day. We better make this a really good one. In fact...I might have just the idea!"_  the woman snapped her fingers and motioned for Virgil to follow her.

Virgil followed behind her, looking over her shoulder in an attempt to ascertain where they were headed. Sometimes being a few millimeters over six feet tall had its advantages.  
  
(And sometimes, such as when Roman quipped that he was  _Heightened Anxiety_ , it did not.)  
  
As predicted, the woman led him over to a section of the bookstore devoted to Astronomy. What he didn't expect was for the woman to take him past the books toward a display.  _"We have a package deal at the moment. If you buy a telescope, you receive this book for free."_  
  
Virgil frowned. A telescope...Logan would  _love_  a new telescope, but could Virgil afford one? Then again, he would be getting two gifts for the price of one, making the purchase more justifiable. He still had to be able to afford the purchase in general, meaning that he probably would not be able to get the most fancy/expensive model the store had to offer, but this still sounded like the best course of action. After all, Logan would only turn 17 once.   
  
Virgil decided on a middle of the road telescope. He absolutely did not want to get the cheapest telescope they had to offer, nor could he  _afford_  their most expensive, but the one that he bought had a few nice features that Logan's current telescope did not. That, in addition to a book about constellations and their histories, made this money well spent in Virgil's eyes.  
  
"Thanks for your help," he managed a small smile at the shopkeeper. "Logan will love it."  
  
The shopkeeper beamed.  _"Oh, this is for Logan? Logan Dicax? He comes in here all the time! He'll absolutely love it!"_  
  
Virgil immediately froze. He figured Logan was a frequent customer of the nearest bookstore to Hogwarts, but to the point where he was on a first name basis with the shopkeeper?   
  
 _"Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost,"_  the woman looked closely at him, as if trying to determine whether or not she needed to dash over to the other side of the counter to catch him in the event that he passed out.  
  
"I...how often does Logan come in here? What has he bou-"  
  
Comprehension dawned on the woman's features.  _"OH! Don't worry, he hasn't purchased any telescopes from here. Nor will I tell him about your gift. Your secret is safe with me,"_  she winked. Virgil smiled back in return, though he feared it looked more like a grimace.

Virgil did not even have to worry about Logan seeing him carrying the telescope around Hogsmeade. He'd chosen this particular Hogsmeade weekend to go shopping for Logan for a reason - he knew that Logan was back in the library working on a project for Ancient Runes.  
  
His plan was to stash the telescope back in his dorm, then head to the library to spend some time with Logan. He encountered Patton on the way down to the Slytherin dorms, the Hufflepuff heading up from his own dorms.  
  
 _"I'm on my way to meet Roman at Madam Puddifoot's!"_  Patton proclaimed. Virgil made a face. He didn't plan on setting foot in a place that looked like a unicorn barfed all over it, then dropped a glitter bomb for good measure. Good thing Logan felt the same way.  
  
He could see why the place appealed to Roman and Patton though, and to each his own.  
  
 _"How did the shopping go? Did you find anything nice for Logan?"_  Patton leaned over, trying to get a better glimpse of what Virgil was carrying in the large bag the shopkeeper gave him.  
  
"Its a telescope. Thought Logan could use a new one since he's a NEWT student now," Virgil explained.

Patton let out an odd noise that Virgil could only describe as some sort of screech before throwing his arms around Virgil.  _"That's so cute! I'm sure Logan'll love it! You two really are_  star-crossed  _lovers!"_  
  
"Yeah, I uh, guess we are," Virgil managed a small smile. Usually Patton's puns and attempted plays on words were more than a little cheesy, but star-crossed lovers, given the context...yeah, he liked the sound of that.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys don't mind these chapters that aren't that plot-heavy. I have fun typing them, but I don't know if you guys like them as much as the other chapters?

"Remember - eyeliner works a lot better than eyeshadow if you want to make this a regular thing," Virgil told Toby as he watched the eleven year old attempt to put on eyeliner. It went on a little crooked as the boy was shaking- whether from excitement or nervousness, Virgil could not tell.   
  
 _"Awww, my little brother looks like my dark strange son!"_  Patton gasped in delight as he watched the scene.  
  
Patton was surprisingly okay with Virgil teaching Toby how to apply makeup. His only insistence was that he be there for the process, as he'd never actually seen the process. Virgil tried to explain that there wasn't really  _that_  much to it, but Patton insisted.  
  
"See? I told you there wasn't much to it," he whispered to Patton as Toby careful outlined his eyes with the new eyeliner that Virgil provided him with, "even an eleven year old can do it."  
  
Patton shrugged, resting his hand on his chin.  _"I still think it's neat. And there's an art to it too! You explained the differences between eyeshadow and eyeliner and how they'd look on your face!"_  
  
Virgil let out a snort. "It's less of an art and more of a 'learn from experience' deal. I tried the eyeshadow thing for a while, if you remember. It looked like I had blotches under my eye. I hardly put any effort into it." Then again, he didn't put much effort into anything at that point in his life. What was the point, when his brother and his friends at the time, as well as his own internal monologue, insisted that he was wasting his time?  
  
Said monologue still went off the rails at times, but at least the external feedback was a lot more positive now than it was back then.  
  
 _"How does this look?"_  Toby interrupted. The boy looked incredibly proud of himself.  
  
 _"It looks great, kiddo! Say, maybe we should teach Augustine and Seth how to do this too? Then you can all match!"_  
  
Toby's expression darkened to a tone more befitting of his eyeliner.  _"Sure, why not?"_  But there was no enthusiasm in the boy's words. Patton looked confused.

 _"Don't you wanna share this with..."_  
  
 _"Yeah, sure, whatever. I'm heading back to my dorm."_  Toby headed off down the hall, leaving an utterly bewildered Patton behind.  
  
 _"What...what did I say? I thought he would love to teach Seth and August!"_  Patton's expression was nothing short of crestfallen.  
  
Virgil chewed on his bottom lip. He had an idea of what he wanted to say, he just wasn't sure how to best get his point across. Virgil was never the best at gentle reassurance, and he was well aware of it. But he also knew that gentle worked  _best_  with Patton...  
  
"You know how Toby was sorted into Slytherin while your other two brothers are in Hufflepuff with you?"  
  
Patton nodded.  _"That really surprised me. Usually the three of them do everything together, I wasn't sure how he'd react to being placed in Slytherin..."_  
  
"I think he was perfectly okay with it," Virgil responded.  
  
 _"Well of course he is now, but..."_  
  
"I think he was okay with it from the get go. I don't think he wanted to be sorted into Hufflepuff."  
  
The puzzled look Patton gave him after this statement told Virgil that this was an option Patton did not even consider.  
  
"You're the oldest, Pat. And there's not anything wrong with that. You're a great older brother. But...it also means that you don't know what it's like to be in someone's shadow and have preset expectations for you because of it."  
  
Patton frowned, considering what Virgil was telling him.  _"So Toby feels like he's in my shadow?"_  
  
Virgil shook his head. "Not your shadow.  _Their_  shadow. Because they're triplets, I'm guessing people see them as a unit. I got that a lot with Deceit since we were so close in age. It was a pain sometimes, and I'm guessing it's even worse for him. I'm guessing that's also why he set out against it before I did. Well that, and the kid is clearly braver than I'll ever be."  
  
 _"I will physically fight you if you don't stop talking bad about yourself,"_  Patton warned.  
  
Virgil held up his hands in mock surrender. "You don't have to tell me twice." He'd seen Patton's hex toward Deceit the year before. "But seriously...I think that's at least part of why he's in Slytherin. He wants to stand out and be his own person. Being in a different house was the first way he could think to do that. Guess that sorta makes him a good fit for Slytherin anyway, with that sort of ambition. Much better fit than me at any rate..."  
  
 _"I thought I told you to stop talking bad about yourself!"_  Patton interrupted.  
  
"There's a point to this besides self deprecation, I promise."  
  
 _"There better be!"_  Patton eyed him warily.  
  
"There is. When we were faced with the same sort of decision, we made the opposite choice."  
  
 _"...decision?"_  Patton looked at Virgil in confusion.  
  
"Yeah, for which house we'd be in."  
  
 _"Doesn't the hat decide for you?"_  
  
Now it was Virgil's turn to be surprised. "I mean yeah, it sorts you in the end, but it also considers what you have to say. Or think, I guess, since we don't really say anything out loud."  
  
 _"Huh. I guess I didn't have much to say. I didn't know much about the houses when I was sorted, being Muggleborn, so I just told the hat to pick whatever house it thought fit me best!"_  
  
Virgil shook his head, a small smile on his face. "The first house the sorting hat suggested for me was Ravenclaw."  
  
 _"It was?"_  Patton's eyes were wide as he looked Virgil up and down.  _"You know, I could see it. You're a pretty smart cookie!"_  
  
Virgil opened his mouth as if to protest, then decided against it as he recalled Patton telling him to cut out the self-deprecation twice already in the conversation. "It suggested Hufflepuff next."  
  
Patton's eyes widened before he broke out into a grin.  _"Hufflepuff? We could have been house buddies!"_  His eyes shone as he clearly imagined the possibilities.   
  
"But I was sorted into Slytherin like Deceit was. I didn't...I didn't want to know what would happen if I wasn't. Maybe it would have been better. Maybe worse. Maybe I would have been friends with all of you sooner. Or maybe I would have different friends entirely. It's amazing how one little decision like that can have such a big impact," Virgil shrugged.  
  
"I think your brother made the right choice for himself. He's trying to figure himself out, himself as one person rather than one third of a set of triplets. The best way for him to do that was to enter a different house than his brothers. It took me a little while longer..."  
  
Patton opened his mouth to protest and Virgil held up a finger to tell him to wait. "...but I got there in the end. Going a different route doesn't mean you completely get rid of the shadow. People still compare me to Deceit all the time, especially now that he's a dangerous fugitive on the run from the law," Virgil rolled his eyes.  
  
"I doubt your brother is going to completely cut off August and Seth. He just doesn't want to spend as much time with them because he doesn't want to be seen as an extension of them. So when you suggested he show August and Seth how to put on makeup..."  
  
 _"I was telling him that I still saw he and his brothers as a singular unit. I didn't mean to, I didn't want to do that, I just thought he'd enjoy bringing his brothers in, but I hurt him instead,"_  Patton commented with a dejected countenance.  
  
"Patton, if I'm not allowed to self-deprecate then you aren't either," Virgil teased.  
  
Patton managed a small chuckle, much to Virgil's relief.  _"How do I fix this?"_  His eyes widened.  _"I know! I'll try to spend time with each of them one by one to try to get to know them better that way! Might be a bit harder since August and Seth still seem like they're attached at the hip all the time, but..."_  
  
"They'll still appreciate it," Virgil smiled. "You're a great big brother, Pat. If only I had one as good as you."  
  
 _"Awww kiddo!"_  Patton pulled him into a sudden hug, causing him to gasp in surprise.  _"You are now officially my adopted little brother!"_  the Hufflepuff announced in delight.  
  
"I'm older than you by nearly a month, and three and a half inches taller," Virgil wheezed out, as Patton clung rather tightly to him.  
  
 _What did I just get myself into?_  He thought as let out an exasperated sigh, then put his arms around Patton with a fond smile. Maybe he would have enjoyed this sooner were he sorted into Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. Maybe not. But he could enjoy it  _now_.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hogwarts, October, and Virgil. Come on, you didn't think I was going to skip doing a Halloween chapter, did you? =P

October was Virgil's favorite month for a few reasons.  
  
When he wasn't in his school robes, it was the perfect weather to wear a hoodie. Not too hot, as it sometimes could be in the summer. But not so cold that he had to throw on a coat on top of that.  
  
The  _main_  reason October was Virgil's favorite month? Halloween, of course. Halloween was his favorite holiday from a young age and it remained that way since.  
  
Hogwarts always went all out for the Halloween feast. Virgil decided to take it an extra few steps with his makeup for the occasion. He almost always wore black eyeliner beneath his eyes, but he decided to color his eyelids as well (a "full-raccoon look", Roman called it as soon as he saw it on Virgil). In addition to this, he also placed black makeup on his lips and down the side of his face and adding several marks that made his mouth look like it has stitches on it. The overall effect made his mouth look like Sally's from The Nightmare Before Christmas, a Muggle Halloween/Christmas movie that Patton introduced him to the year before.  
  
He wasn't the only one wearing makeup, as it turned out. Roman decided that Halloween was the perfect opportunity to be that much more  _extra_. He'd even placed a toy crown atop his head and proclaimed that he was truly royalty for the day, much to Logan's chagrin. Patton seemed to find it cute enough, however.  
  
He received as many compliments as weird looks, but surprisingly the weird looks didn't bother him as much today. Maybe it was the fact that he was wearing makeup that allowed him to feel like he was dressing up as a different person, and thus put a layer between himself, his  _true_  self, and anyone that he came across.  
  
It was much like the mask of nonchalance and non-caring that he put on when he was still in with Deceit's crowd. That wasn't how he  _really_  felt, but more of an act that he put on to protect himself - and he thought it was helping at the time. As it turned out, it was only bottling his true feelings until they boiled over to a point where he could not contain them any longer.  
  
Toby seemed to be having a particularly fun time as well. It was the most energetic he'd ever seen the first year boy, and he'd jumped up and down when he saw Virgil's makeup. Apparently The Nightmare Before Christmas was his favorite movie too, and seeing Virgil's makeup appearing so similar to Sally's positively made his day.  
  
Yes, it was a good day. There was a delicious feast in the Great Hall, fun with friends, and even an amusing performance by the Hogwarts Ghosts. It was more akin to a comedy routine than something actually  _scary_ , but it still fit the aesthetic and was still more than worth the time spent viewing it.  
  
Virgil should have known that it wouldn't last. One would think that as a Seer, he would be able to  _see_  it coming.  
  
Virgil and Patton were headed back downstairs after the feast, each making their way to their respective Common Rooms. They were walking past a room when they heard a sudden banging noise on the other side. Virgil jumped at the sudden noise, but quickly regained his composure.  
  
Patton, on the other hand, looked curiously at the door.  _"I wonder what that was?"_  
  
Virgil shrugged. "It was probably nothing. C'mon, let's go." He motioned for Patton to follow. Patton, on the other hand, crept closer to the door.   
  
_"It almost sounds like something is trapped in here. I think..I think it may be calling for help!"_ Patton, ever the bleeding heart that he was, opened the door almost instantly at that.   
  
He also instantly regretted it.  
  
Out from the open door crept a Giant Spider. It was smaller than an Acromantula but still a formidable size, and Patton's eyes immediately widened as his mouth formed a perfect "o". The spider then began to move toward him, and he and Virgil immediately took off running.  
  
_"Of all the things, why did it have to be a giant spider? Why couldn't it be a nice three-headed dog?"_  Patton groaned as he ran.  
  
"...Patton you're talking about a  _hell-hound_."   
  
_"Oh, is that what they're called? They're so cute! Three for the price of one!"_  
  
"Patton, those are  _dangerous_!"  
  
_"Dangerously cute you mean!"_  
  
Virgil rolled his eyes. They didn't have time to debate over whether hellhounds were cute or not, they needed to escape this spider and tell someone about it so they could take care of it! Virgil immediately rounded the corner, running for a bit longer before he realized that he didn't hear anything behind them any longer.  
  
Virgil turned around with a grin. "We did it Pat, I think we outran..." Patton was nowhere to be seen. Virgil glanced around. Had Patton taken a different turn than he had? Did Patton get attacked by the Giant Spider? He would have heard that, wouldn't he? It occurred to him that he hadn't heard anything behind him for the past moment or so...and he realized for the first time that not only did that mean that the Giant Spider was no longer pursuing him, but that  _Patton's_ footsteps were no longer there either.  
  
Virgil recognized that he might be stepping into danger...but he had to go back the way he came from. He wasn't going to leave Patton to the whims of a monster if Patton got caught back there. He hoped that Patton merely made a different turn than he had and was also safe, but he wasn't going to leave it to chance. Not when his best friend might have wound up...  
  
Attacked.  
  
Patton was lying on the ground. Virgil crept a bit closer to Patton's form, finding it difficult to swallow past the sudden lump that rose within his throat. Virgil let out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding when he saw that Patton was not only still breathing but whining in pain, a surefire sign that he was still alive. That he could still be helped.  
  
He didn't look good, though. He was covered in blood and each breath came out with a rasp. He was conscious, but just barely. He glanced in Virgil's direction and attempted to mouth something to the Slytherin.  
  
Virgil wanted to move closer, to  _help_ , but he couldn't will his trembling legs to move.  
  
Because Patton's supine form was not the only thing waiting for him in that hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ..alright, maybe two Halloween chapters, lol. Hope you enjoyed this so far!


	10. Chapter 10

Virgil gaped. He saw no sign of the Giant Spider that savaged Patton. It had to be near, though. Patton's wounds looked fresh. Patton let out a groan and turned his head where he lay. He was facing Virgil now, and Virgil let out a shaky sigh.  
  
"Pat I'm so sorry..."  
  
 _"No you're not,"_  Patton interrupted him. Virgil shot him a bewildered look.  
  
"What do you mean, of course I am!"  
  
 _"If you were really sorry you wouldn't have done this in the first place. Its your fault that I'm hurt. And now you're too scared to even move closer to help me. What kind of friend are you?"_  Virgil visibly winced. Patton's scolding hit him hard.   
  
"A...A terrible one."  
  
 _"Exactly! You let me get attacked! Not that I should be surprised, after what you did last year,"_ Patton's voice was cold. A part of Virgil wanted to scream at Patton to stop, but another, stronger part was telling him that Patton was right.   
  
He stayed silent and allowed the Hufflepuff to continue on his tirade.  
  
 _"You pushed me down the stairs. You hurt Roman and I. You attacked Paige. You fought Logan. You tried to torture Logan. You tried to kill Logan."_  
  
"I...that wasn't..."  
  
 _"That wasn't you? Is that what you're going to say? Is that what you tell yourself to make yourself feel better? You didn't fight him off. You let him hurt us. You probably enjoyed it too."_  
  
The squeezing in the center of Virgil's chest grew tighter.  
  
"I would never enjoy..."  
  
 _"Oh, were you just too scared then? You couldn't even stand up to your brother for all these years."_  
  
Virgil tried to protest, but found that he couldn't. It was hard enough to catch his breath, let alone attempt to defend himself from this onslaught.  
  
 _"You couldn't even handle the Imperius Curse. You panicked and then hurt us again in the process. You're a curse. Whenever you're around we get hurt."_  
  
Virgil could feel the tremors wracking through his body. His hands were numb, and felt what seemed to be a large lump within his throat.  
  
He needed to leave, he needed to get away from his friends. He was a curse at best and evil at worst.   
  
Even so... he couldn't leave Patton. He slowly crept closed, and Patton let out a derisive snort.  _"What do you think you're doing? Are you going to hurt me worse? That seems to be all you're good for."_  
  
Virgil shook his head frantically. Words failed him. He couldn't speak, he struggled to catch his breath, he struggled to think of what he could do to help Patton. He reached out to check on one of the wounds...  
  
 _"Step away from him,"_  a voice called. Roman, of course. He probably thought Virgil did thus to Patton.  
  
Then again, he sorta did...indirectly, at least.  
  
Virgil hesitated.  
  
 _"Virgil, please. You need to step away."_  That was Logan. That hurt the most. He stepped aside, waiting for Logan and Roman to lay into him.  
  
 _"RIDDIKULUS!"_

Virgil watched with wide eyes as Logan's spell hit Patton's form on the ground. It flickered for a moment, then made eye contact with Virgil once more.  
  
 _"And now your boyfriend is attacking me and you're doing nothing..."_  Patton hissed at him. Virgil slipped his hand into his pocket. Patton narrowed his eyes.  _"What, now you're going to attack me too? Is that all you're good for, betraying your friends?"_  Virgil froze. Was that all he was good for? It sure felt like it sometimes.  
  
 _"That's not Patton, Virgil! That's a boggart!"_    
  
A...right, the figure of Patton flickered when Logan hit it with the Riddikulus Charm. It was a boggart. Then why hadn't it disappeared when...  
  
 _"It's taking the form of your fear, Virgil, you have to finish it off!"_  Roman called out to him.   
  
Virgil nodded and retrieved his wand from his pocket, pointing it at the impostor that lay on the ground a few feet away. He swallowed, moving a few steps closer.  
  
"Patton" looked at him, his eyes wide as his form shrunk back slightly.  _"Virgil, please, it's me. I thought we were friends."_    
  
Virgil's grip tightened around his wand. Patton was his friend. His  _best friend_. What if Logan was wr...  
  
No. This figure before him was not Patton. No matter how  _true_  the boggart's words felt, Patton would never talk to him in that manner. Patton would just as soon  _fight him_  then hear him talk about himself the way that the boggart spoke to him. Patton himself said it a couple of weeks before.  
  
Virgil advanced. Pa-no, the  _boggart's_  eyes widened as Virgil aimed and pointed his wand. "RIDDIKULUS!"  
  
The figure immediately morphed into...Patton? But they already established that the figure wasn't supposed to be Patton...  
  
It was a completely whole, uninjured Patton, though. And he had a smile on his face as he pulled himself up to a seated position.  _"Hey Virgil, why is honey so nutritious? Because it's got all those Bee Vitamins! Get it?"_  
  
It was an incredibly cheesy joke, but the laughter tumbled forth from Virgil's lips nevertheless. Whether it was relieved laughter or amused laughter Virgil didn't know, and he didn't  _care_. This was the Patton that he knew and loved. At the sound of Virgil's laughter, the boggart vanished with a loud 'pop'.  
  
Virgil sighed. This time he  _knew_  it was in relief.   
  
 _"Virgil, may I place my arm around your shoulder in an attempt to render comfort?"_  
  
Roman let out a loud snort.  _"Smooth, Logan. Real smooth."_  
  
Virgil smiled nevertheless. "Yeah..thanks Lo." Had Logan simply placed his arm around Virgil's shoulder, Virgil would have jumped. He was still on edge from his encounter with the boggart. Knowing that Logan was about to touch him, however? Virgil was prepared and thus felt  _comfortable_  when Logan placed his arm there.  
  
There was one other thing that he wondered, however. "I..guys, is Patton okay?" He tensed. Logan squeezed his shoulder in response.   
  
 _"Patton's fine, Jack Smellington. He's still recovering from his own boggart encounter,"_  Roman explained with a rare gentle smile.  
  
"His own encounter?" Virgil blinked in confusion.  
  
 _"Well, yes, he was the one who encountered the boggart first..."_  Logan explained.  
  
The spider. They hadn't encountered a Giant Spider at all. That was Patton's boggart. And when he thought he'd outrun Patton, that he'd left Patton behind...he'd worried that Patton would get attacked by the spider chasing them, so the boggart shifted into that very image.  
  
 _"Are you okay, Virge?"_  Roman questioned.  
  
Virgil nodded - and he wasn't exactly  _lying_ , all things considered. "I'm okay as I can be right now." He held his hand to his mouth as a yawn escaped. "Tired, though."  
  
 _"It has been an eventful night. We should retreat to our Common Rooms and settle down before going to bed. Have a good night, Virgil."_  Virgil expected Logan to just hug him as Roman was present, but was pleasantly surprised when Logan pressed a kiss to his cheek.   
  
Roman made a face.  _"Get a room,"_  he teased.  
  
Logan shot him a glare.  _"It was a kiss on the cheek, it wasn't anything overt."_  
  
 _"I was kidding!"_  
  
Virgil chuckled and shook his head as Roman and Logan made their way to the stairs, bickering all the while. He probably wouldn't need much time to relax before he crashed. His encounter with the boggart was exhausting enough. Sure enough, shortly after Virgil's head hit his pillow, he was fast asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's follow up an angsty chapter with some romance!

Halloween coming and going meant that Logan's birthday was just around the corner. Virgil woke up the morning of November 3rd with a small smile on his face. He wanted this to be a memorable day for his boyfriend, though he was still nervous as to how Logan would react to his gift. He reasoned that Logan  _loved_  Astronomy, and thus would love the gift, but what if he already had a nicer telescope? What if...  
  
No. Virgil closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was going to try  _not_  to dwell on the what ifs, at least for the day. It was Logan's day.   
  
Virgil decided that the best time to present Logan with his gift would be later in the day, perhaps even at night, so that Logan could put his new gift to use right away.   
  
As often happens when one is anxiously awaiting a certain time and/or day, the clock seemed to move extra slow that day - especially in all of his classes. The only time that passed by fairly quickly was  _lunchtime_...figured.  
  
Virgil was walking toward the last class of the day as well as his favorite class. This one wouldn't be too bad. It was Defense Against the Dark Arts, and most of his friends were in the class. So long as they weren't practicing Imperius again, it would go fine, wouldn't it?  
  
Virgil began to round a corner, only to find Logan and Roman talking - and they were specifically talking about  _gifts_. Virgil hid back around the corner, listening close to what the other two young men had to say on the subject.  
  
_"None of you_  had  _to get me a gift, though I do appreciate it. I am honestly not certain that I would know how to react if someone purchased me something as unwanted as a telescope."_  
  
At those words, Virgil wished that time would stand still.  
  
Logan stated that a telescope, Virgil's gift for him, was specifically something that he  _did not want_.   
  
Virgil screwed up. Then again, of course he did. Even something as important as this he'd screwed up on. He couldn't understand where he would have gone wrong, though. Logan liked Astronomy. Why didn't he want a telescope? Did someone already purchase him a new one? His parents, perhaps?   
  
As fate would have it, Defense Against the Dark Arts practically  _flew_  by. Virgil tried to act normal. He didn't want his own disappointment to reflect on Logan's day. But then, wasn't Logan going to be disappointed once he saw Virgil's gift for him? Exactly what he stated he  _didn't_  want?  
  
The group met after dinner in the usual classroom, though this time they were not meeting to attend to any business or to study. They were meeting to present Logan with his gifts.  
  
Roman was the first to present a gift, an ornate watch. Logan seemed to consider it a little too fancy for his tastes, but he appreciated it nevertheless. Patton was next. Patton presented Logan with a Muggle scientist kit, which Logan found amusing enough as a half-blood with one Muggle parent.  _"This is hardly Potions, but I think I will find this amusing enough for my experiments. Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Patton."_  
  
Era and Astrit each presented Logan with a brand new book. Paige purchased him a brand new Ravenclaw scarf.   
  
..that left Virgil, who rummaged into his bag and held his gift forward.  
  
Logan unwrapped the constellation book, a smile making its way across his face. It wasn't quite the beaming grin that he'd been hoping for with the telescope, but he was stupid to even think that Logan would get excited about something like that. At least he seemed to appreciate the book to the point of polite acknowledgment.  
  
Patton shot him a puzzled look, but he ignored it.   
  
The group disbanded soon afterward. Logan came up to Virgil in the hallway afterward, smile still on his face.  _"Thank you for the constellation book, Virgil. It is an absolutely wonderful gift."_  
  
Virgil managed a smile, hoping that it did not look too forced.   
  
_"Are you alright, Virgil? You seem perturbed,"_  Logan questioned him. Virgil sighed. He couldn't even pull  _that_  off right.  
  
"I'm fine, Logan. Even if I wasn't, it wouldn't matter. It's your day. You're the one who deserves to be happy," Virgil responded, smiling once more. Apparently this one was more convincing, because Logan smiled back at him.  
  
_"Virgil? What about your other gift for Logan?"_  Virgil froze at the sound of Patton's voice.  
  
_"Other gift?"_  Logan looked from Virgil to Patton, then back at Virgil again.  _"There is another gift? You did not have to purchase more than one gift for me, Virgil..."_  
  
_"It was a set!"_  Patton beamed. Virgil wanted to sink into the floor.  
  
_"Virgil? You bought me another gift to go with this book?"_  Logan remarked quizzically.  
  
"I...it doesn't matter," Virgil said hastily, wanting to go back to his dorm.  
  
_"Of course it does, Virgil!"_  Patton said kindly. Virgil didn't want kindness right now. He just wanted to disappear.  
  
"It was a stupid gift. You wouldn't want it anyway," Virgil told Logan. Logan looked at him in confusion.  
  
_"I am sure that it is not stupid, Virgil,"_  Logan attempted to tell him.  
  
"You wouldn't want it anyway," Virgil protested.  
  
Logan folded his arms across his chest.  _"Try me,"_  Logan insisted.   
  
Patton smiled.  _"Come on, kiddo. Let's go down and let Logan his other gift, okay?"_  He rubbed Virgil's shoulder lightly at the small group made their way down the stairs. There was a minimal amount of conversation between Patton and Logan, though Virgil did not say much. Both Logan and Patton kept glancing his way, though.  
  
Virgil crept past the Slytherin Common Room and into his dorm, quickly retrieving the wrapped telescope and handing it to Logan. "Here. You'll see what it is soon enough."  
  
He gazed downward. He did not want to see the look of disappointment on Logan's face when he saw that it was a  _telescope_  of all things. He heard a soft gasp. He turned to go back toward the Slytherin Common Room. He felt a pair of arms wrap around him.  
  
"Patton, you don't have to..."  
  
_"Thank you,"_  Logan whispered. The arms around him were not Patton's, they were  _Logan's_. And he sounded...awestruck?  
  
_"This is absolutely...I...am at a loss for words. Never in my wildest dreams would have I ever considered that anyone would actually purchase me a telescope. I just...this...is..."_  
  
"Disappointing?" Virgil finished for him.  
  
_"What?"_   came Logan's shocked reply as he pulled away from Virgil.  _"No, of course not! It's absolutely wonderful! Why would you think that this telescope would be disappointing?"_  
  
Virgil shuffled his feet. "You didn't want a telescope. I heard you talking to Roman earlier..."  
  
Logan blinked back a few times before his eyes widened in comprehension.  _"Virgil...Virgil, no! Are you referring to when I said that a telescope would be an unwanted gift? I didn't mean unwanted, I meant_  unwonted."  
  
_"...aren't those the same thing?"_  Patton inquired, taking the words right out of Virgil's mouth.  
  
Logan shook his head.  _"One is unwanted, u-n-w-a-n-t-e-d. It means..well, it means something that one does not want. The word that I was using earlier is unwonted, u-n-w-o-n-t-e-d, the definition of which is 'out of the ordinary or unusual'."_  
  
Out of the ordinary or unusual. Not...not something that he did not want. He felt Logan's hand atop his shoulder.  _"I appreciate this gift very much, Virgil, as much as I appreciate the other gift that you purchased for me. In fact, I would love to put this gift to use right away if you would be willing to accompany me to the Astronomy Tower."_  
  
"I...really?" Virgil dared to meet Logan's eyes. Logan nodded, a soft smile on his face.  
  
_"I cannot think of anyone else I would like to go stargazing with."_  
  
What a 180. Virgil went into this conversation feeling as though everything was about to turn sour, and now he felt positively giddy. Though there was still one thing that bothered him... "Patton, would you like to..."  
  
Patton beamed and gestured with his hand for the two of them to go.  _"No, you two lovebirds go enjoy yourselves!"_    
  
_"We are not...nevermind. Let us go, Virgil,"_  Logan sighed and slipped his hand into Virgil's. Patton shot a smirk in Virgil's direction. Virgil shook his head and smirked to himself.  
  
Not lovebirds.  _Suuuuuuuure_ , Logan.  
  
With Patton's blessing, Virgil squeezed Logan's hand, and two set off to the Astronomy Tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ..angsty romance. I swear, this was not what I intended when I first set out to write this chapter... XD


	12. Chapter 12

Virgil was asked to stay after one day in Defense Against the Dark Arts with no further explanation. He took this as calmly and reasonably as anyone would expect him to -

He spent the entire class period trying to stave off a panic attack.

He tried to reason with himself that it couldn't be anything  _that_  bad. He hadn't done anything  _wrong_  in class, unless one counted that unfortunate incident with the Imperius Curse. Was that what this was about? Was he in trouble for reacting the way that he had to the curse? Was the professor about to tell him that he wasn't of the proper caliber for Defense Against the Dark Arts? He'd gotten an O, but what if that was a fluke?

_How could that be a fluke though? You were tested by a Ministry proctor who knew what they were doing,_  his mind fired back at him in a voice that sounded suspiciously like Logan's.

 When Virgil approached Professor Goodwin after class, it was with apprehension. The professor smiled when she saw him approach, which he supposed he should take as a good sign - but what if she was smiling to comfort him, a way to soften the blow before she told him that he had to leave her class?

The hardest part? He knew it was unrealistic to think this way. The chances of her saying something like  _that_  when he'd earned an O on his OWL for Defense Against the Dark Arts were incredibly slim. Even  _infinitesimal_ , as Logan might say.

But they weren't outright impossible, and that was all that it took for his mind to cling to a possibility and run away with it. Professor Goodwin could be calling him up about  _anything_.

No matter how many times he told himself thus, however, he could not calm his racing heart. Not so long as  _everything_  stood in the balance. What if he succeeded in soothing himself only to find out that it  _was_  bad news after all?

 "You wanted to talk to me?" Virgil asked after making certain that all of the other students were out of the classroom first. He didn't need any eavesdroppers to make this worse.

_"Yes, I have something to ask you concerning your recent performance in class,"_  Professor Goodwin responded.

Virgil's stomach lurched. This was about his grades after all. 

_"Are you alright?"_  Professor Goodwin inquired, concern etched on her features. His discomfort must be evident on his features. Even better.

"Yeah, I'm great, never been better." Despite not outright trying to be rude, he could not keep the sarcasm out of his tone. 

_Making a great case for yourself aren't you?_  Virgil thought to himself.

_"In any case, I would like to ask if you would be interested in tutoring younger level students?"_ Professor Goodwin asked him.

"I...wait, what?" Surely he couldn't have heard her correctly.

_"Would you be interested in tutoring a younger student or students?"_  the professor repeated. There was no mistaking it this time.

Virgil was so gobsmacked that he responded with the first thing that came to mind. "Have you  _met_ me?"

Professor Goodwin gave him a confused look.  _"Of course I have. You're one of my best students. I feel that you would be a great tutor."_

"But I...people..." His eloquence today was astounding.

Professor Goodwin chuckled.  _"I know you don't particularly enjoy speaking up in class, but these are one-on-one tutoring sessions."_

That...helped, somewhat. He was still skeptical of the whole thing, but he was more stunned that the professor apparently thought he was good enough at Defense Against the Dark Arts to teach someone else. "Uh, okay. Sure. I'll do it."

_"Great!"_  Professor Goodwin beamed.  _"Your first session will be on Friday at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. You do not have to worry about setting up the appointment, I will arrange it with the student you will be tutoring. We will start off with one student per tutor, but may increase this based on need. Thank you, Virgil! Have a great afternoon!"_

Virgil mumbled a reply to Professor Goodwin. It wasn't until he made it out into the hall that the initial shock wore off and he realized what he had done.

What did he just agree to?

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Virgil, Logan, Patton, Roman, Era, and Paige were walking toward the library. Virgil and Logan were to meet with the students they would be tutoring, the others were merely there out of curiosity and/or moral support.

_"You'll do fine Virgil. Defense Against the Dark Arts is your best class,"_  Patton explained.

_"I too believe that you will make a good tutor, Virgil. I will be tutoring a student in Astronomy myself,"_  Logan added.

_"Well, I suppose this is where we'll see you two off then. Don't give the little ones too much of a fright,"_  Roman told them.

_"Behave, Roman,"_  Era rolled her eyes, but smiled nevertheless.

_"I do not think that we will frighten them too badly, I feel that they will be more nervous than anything..."_  Logan explained.

_"I was referring less to you and more to Darkwing Duck over here,"_ Roman clarified, gesturing to Virgil.

"Darkwing...seriously?" Virgil arched an eyebrow.

Roman smiled innocently.  _"I couldn't resist."_

Patton was already singing the Darkwing Duck theme.  _"Let's get dangerous~,"_  he chimed in.

"I'm about the last person to suggest  _that_ ," Virgil pointed out.

_"He brings up a good point,"_  Era agreed.

_"Anyway, we'll let you guys go. Let us know how it goes later on!"_  Paige smiled. The other four waved to Virgil and Logan as the two made their way into the library where they would be meeting up with their assigned students.

Going up to the deputy headmaster, Virgil and Logan were each handed a table number to meet the student they would be tutoring at. Virgil peered down at his number and made his way over to the table, paying less attention to who was seated at the tables and more attention to making certain that he got to the right table. He glanced upward from the slip of paper when the number on the table matched the one on his slip. His eyes went wide.

It would figure that he would know the student that he was tutoring.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the follow up to the cliffhanger I left you guys on! I hope it's decent enough. I had a very rough day at work today. So...I didn't have as much time to work on this as I hoped D:

Virgil pulled out a chair from the table and took a seat, unsure what else to do. "Defense Against the Dark Arts tutoring? You don't come across as the type who needs it."  
  
Astrit Zhupan stared at him from across the table and shrugged.  _"Professor Goodwin seems to think I would benefit from it."_  
  
Professor Goodwin hadn't seen Astrit fight off the Imperius Curse and essentially  _save the day_  last year. Not that any of them particularly wanted to disclose everything that happened in that cave to anyone outside of their inner circle.  
  
"If anything, you should be tutoring  _me_ ," Virgil rolled his eyes.  
  
Astrit shifted in his seat.  _"Well, not entirely. First off, you are older than me and therefore more knowledgable about DADA. Secondly, my grades are...yeah, they aren't great right now."_

"They aren't?"   
  
Astrit shook his head.  _"Missed a lot of time last year and the professors already have their hands full with everyone else. They can't really be expected to catch me up. Plus, just...it's hard keeping up with my classes."_  The last part of Astrit's statement was said so quietly that Virgil had to lean in to hear it properly.   
  
He did not fail to notice that Astrit subconsciously backed away from him when he did so.  
  
Right. This was going to be awkward.

 _"At least we don't have to worry about the introductions?"_  Astrit offered, the corners of his mouth curving upward in slight amusement as he glanced around at the other tables in the library.  
  
"Yeah," Virgil agreed. A few seconds of silence passed before Virgil realized that he ought to follow that up with something a little more substantial. "So, uh, what exactly is it that you need help with in Defense?" That seemed like a good place to start? Maybe?

 _"We're doing countercurses right now, though we're supposed to start studying Acromantulas in a bit,"_  Astrit explained.   
  
"Acromantulas. Those were fun. Take it from Logan, if you ever come across one attacking you? Use diffindo to blind it," Virgil chuckled.  
  
 _"...but don't they have 8 eyes like most spiders?"_  Astrit frowned.  
  
"They do. It helps when you have your friends along to help." Virgil shrugged. As far as he was concerned, the battle with the Acromantula was one of the least stressful ordeals from their time in the Forbidden Forest the year before. He supposed that was saying something.

 _"You got an O on your OWL for Defense didn't you?"_  Astrit asked.   
  
Virgil nodded.  
  
 _"You must be really good at Defense Against the Dark Arts then,"_  the younger student observed.  
  
Virgil shook his head. "Its not that big of a..." he paused when he realized that his own attempt at self-deprecation would hurt Astrit in the process. If he proclaimed that it wasn't a big deal to get an O in Defense Against the Dark Arts and Astrit was struggling...what would that say about Astrit, who clearly  _wasn't_ getting an O if he was being singled out for tutoring?  
  
Virgil needed a new strategy, clearly. "I put a lot of effort into studying Defense Against the Dark Arts. A  _lot_  of effort. Especially starting last year." He hoped that would come across better.

 _"With the...with the students being cursed?"_  
  
"Before that even. Do you remember the rumors going around about me? That I might have something to do with the cursings?"  
  
Astrit nodded. Virgil wasn't sure whether to be grateful that he didn't have to explain, or disappointed that it was such hot gossip that even students two years younger than him knew the rumors.  
  
"Well...as with most rumors there was an element of truth to them," Virgil dropped his voice to a whisper.  
  
Astrit's eyes blew wide open.  _"You were looking up Dark Magic? But why?"_

Virgil frowned, suddenly aware of just how many people were around them. What if one of them overheard, and thus discovered that Virgil was a Seer? Era wouldn't be the only known Seer at Hogwarts, but Virgil would get all sorts of unwanted attention, the thought of which...  
  
Yeah. Suffice to say he didn't want that particular secret to get out.  
  
He opted to choose his words carefully. "I had reason to believe that something might happen, but I didn't know what it would be, so I started doing research."  
  
Astrit knew Virgil was a Seer, so he'd hopefully connect the two without further explanation. Others who did  _not_  know of Virgil's designation as a Seer might assume that he suspected that his brother was up to no good - An assumption that would have proven to be correct just a few months later.  
  
Sure enough, a look of comprehension washed over Astrit's features.  _"Oh. That makes sense."_

"That's why I'm so invested in Defense Against the Dark Arts. You might not have noticed, but I tend to worry about the worst case scenario in..well, many situations that I find myself in," Virgil continued.  
  
 _"I didn't notice,"_  Astrit replied with a grin conveying the exact opposite.  
  
Virgil smiled in spite of himself. "Defense Against the Dark Arts..it gives me a way to feel like there's something I can  _do_  about some of the dangers I worry about. I can not only learn about them but I can prepare for them in case I ever encounter them." Defense Against the Dark Arts was certainly the class that Virgil put the most effort into out of all of his classes. He just never thought that anyone would actually  _notice_  it, or that it might actually be an asset. It felt nice to be noticed for something good for a change, not for unsavory past acquaintances or crappy brothers.  
  
 _"I don't want to encounter any more than what I already have, but I do want to be prepared in the event that I do,"_  Astrit agreed.  _"It's just hard to focus in class sometimes. People still ask me about what happened when I was missing, you know. I was okay answering at first but now..."_ Astrit rubbed his arm and sighed, gazing downward at the table that sat between the two of them.  
  
"Lemme guess, you wish you could put a sign on the back of your robes explaining what happened, or what you're comfortable telling them happened so you don't have to repeat it ten times a day?" Virgil guessed.  
  
 _"It's almost like you've been through something similar,"_  Astrit smirked back.  
  
Huh. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

The two continued chatting for a while longer, then made plans to meet up again a few days later. All in all, it was surprisingly worth the trip down to the library.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter came out a bit short, but..this felt like a good place to end it, otherwise it would have ended up massive. XD I've already written some of the next chapter, so..you hopefully shouldn't have to wait too long for it!

Virgil entered their next Defense Against the Dark Arts class in considerably higher spirits than the last one.   
  
Era and Paige opted to sit near Virgil, Roman, Logan, and Patton this time. As soon as Era opened her mouth, Virgil realized why.  _"So I heard you were assigned to my brother for tutoring?"_    
  
Virgil nodded. They wanted to talk about Astrit and his first tutoring session. Virgil figured she'd already discussed most of it with Astrit, but she probably wanted Virgil's side of the story as well. It made for a good conversation starter at any rate. "Yeah..I had no idea he was even struggling with Defense Against the Dark Arts. I mean, the kid fought the Imperius Curse..."  
  
 _"So did you and Roman,"_  Logan pointed out.  
  
 _"..for once I think I get where Once Upon A Midnight Dreary is coming from,"_  Roman replied.  
  
 _"Edgar Allen Poe, Roman? I'm impressed,"_  Logan nodded appreciatively. Not only was he thrilled to understand a reference, but it was a literary reference as well. Even Virgil, whose exposure to Muggle pop culture mostly came through Patton and Logan, knew of and read some of Poe's works - and that was  _before_  Logan began to introduce him to various Muggle authors.  
  
"You actually agree with me on something? Should I start looking for flying pigs?" Virgil joked.  
  
 _"It's not hard to agree with you on this point. Astrit did objectively better than us at fighting off the Imperius Curse. He was a real hero down there in that cave from what you, Era, and Logan have said. I only partially managed to fight off the curse, and while Virgil did slightly better, he still...um..."_  
  
 _"Got a little bit frazzled?"_  Paige interrupted with a sheepish smile.  
  
 _"...yeah. That's, uh, that's a good way of putting it,"_  Roman concluded. Virgil opted not to comment, suddenly finding the pattern of the wood on his desk more fascinating than anything else.  
  
 _"Virgil might have gotten more than a little frazzled, but you were the one who dived into the floor like it was a swimming pool,"_  Era grinned. Roman let out a sigh of frustration.  
  
 _"I'm never going to live that down, am I?"_  he groaned.  
  
 _"It might have helped if you hadn't done a pirouette beforehand,"_  Logan reasoned.  
  
They need not worry about the conversation taking other turns, as Professor Goodwin stood at the front of the classroom and cleared her throat.  _"Take your seats, please. Class is about to get started."_  
  
Though Virgil, Logan, Roman, Patton, Era, and Paige were all seated, there were a few students still standing and socializing. The professor waited for these stragglers to take their seats, then set to work.  
  
 _"Welcome to class! You'll be learning difficult Defense spells now that you are NEWT level students, and this one is no exception. I will note that it will be a lot easier to cast this spell within this classroom than it will be if you ever need to use it outside of school, so do keep that in mind,"_ Professor Goodwin greeted her students.  
  
A few students exchanged glances, Virgil and Logan being two that did so. It was clear that both Slytherin and Ravenclaw were considering what spell Professor Goodwin would attempt to teach them.  
  
 _"As I said, today we will be studying a new spell. Unlike some of the subjects we study in this class, we will not be testing our spells on the actual subject that they are to be directed at. The creature in question is far too dangerous for us to allow students to do so, even if they do happen to be at NEWT level as you lot are,"_  the professor explained.  
  
Virgil gulped. A creature that dangerous? There were a few creatures that sprang to mind courtesy of his Care of Magical Creatures class, but there were a  _lot_  of dangerous creatures. They would be specifically studying a spell though...a spell connected to a dangerous creature? It couldn't be a boggart. Virgil already stood face to face with a boggart twice at Hogwarts, once in class the year before and once on Halloween.  
  
The only other creature that sprang to mind was...  
  
Oh.  
  
Oh no.   
  
Virgil wasn't as worried as he would be were they to face an actual example of the creature that just popped into his head, but the  _prospect_  of said creature in itself sent chills up and down Virgil's spine. It was indeed one of the most dangerous creatures Virgil ever heard of, capable of not only influencing someone's emotional state but rendering them an empty shell. Glancing around the classroom, Virgil realized he wasn't the only one who had such a reaction.   
  
Other students must have realized what sort of creature Professor Goodwin was referring to as well. Professor Goodwin seemed to sense this, as she peered around the room at her students.  
  
 _"Who can tell me what a dementor is?"_


	15. Chapter 15

_"Who can tell me what a dementor is?"_  Professor Goodwin looked to the class expectantly. She called on a Hufflepuff boy that Virgil vaguely recognized.  
  
 _"They are dark creatures that feed on the happiness of humans. They can also take a human's soul through something known as a dementor's kiss,"_  the boy announced.  
  
Professor Goodwin smiled.  _"Great! 10 points to Hufflepuff for a detailed summary of what dementors are and what they do! Now...does anyone present know how to combat a dementor? There is a certain spell..."_  
  
This time the professor called on a Gryffindor, who responded with,  _"the Patronus Charm! It takes the form of an animal and can protect you from the dementors!"_

The Professor nodded.  _"Very good, and that's 10 points for Gryffindor! The incantation for the Patronus Charm is Expecto Patronum. Easy enough to remember,"_  she smiled again.  
  
 _"More like Expecto_  Pat _ronum, am I right?"_  Patton whispered. Logan let out a low groan and ran a hand through his hair, glancing skyward. Roman, Era, and Paige snickered. Virgil, too, grinned in amusement.  
  
 _"As we do not have dementors for you to practice on, we will merely practice in class. You need to think of a happy memory to call on your Patronus, the happier the better! I'll come around and watch. Have at it!"_  the Professor declared, after which every student hastily picked up their wands and set to work.

At first, the classroom was full of shouts of 'Expecto Patronum!' that brought little success. The Gryffindor who answered the professor's question about the Patronus Charm earlier was the first student to succeed in producing a corporeal Patronus - an owl.  
  
Soon, other students in the class followed suit. Out of Virgil's friends, Logan was the first to produce a Patronus - something that did not surprise Virgil in the least. Virgil marveled at the silvery raven that Logan produced. Logan looked positively triumphant, and Virgil shot him a huge grin.  
  
He turned back to his own assignment. "Expecto Patronum..." Nothing.  
  
"Expecto Patronum!" Nothing again.  
  
"Expecto Patronum!" A silvery mist.  
  
"Expecto Patronum!" A more substantial mist, that looked for a second like it might...nah, it was just a trick of the eye. The mist dissipated once more.  
  
Patton came next - his Patronus took on the shape of an excited golden retriever that began to prance around the room. Patton looked utterly delighted with himself and clapped his hands together.  _"It's so cute!"_  he cried out in joy.  
  
Paige was next, with her bay stallion Patronus. Roman followed shortly after with a large peacock.  
  
"A flashy bird that likes to strut around. Yep, that sounds like you," Virgil grinned at the Gryffindor.  
  
 _"Hey, at least I've conjured up a Patronus,"_  Roman shot back. The words were in a teasing tone, but the damage was done.  
  
Virgil had yet to cast a Patronus. Out of his friends, only Era was still struggling. How was the rest of the class doing? Virgil chanced a glance around the room and wished he hadn't. Most of the class had at least rudimentary Patronuses by this point. Virgil was having a hard time even getting the mist to appear.  
  
 _"Expecto Patronum! No, that's no it...Expecto Patronum!"_  Era's eyes widened in pleasant surprise when an eagle burst forth from her wand and took flight. Era kept her eyes on her Patronus, utterly awestruck.  
  
"E-Expecto Patronum!" Virgil tried again, producing only a slight mist this time.  
  
He glanced upward. Another student across the room, another success. She produced a Patronus that resembled a tawny cat.  
  
"Expecto Patronum!" Virgil tried again. Happy memory, happy memory...finding Astrit the year before? "Expecto Patronum!"  
  
Just the mist again. Virgil cleared his throat and tried again. "Expecto Patronum!" His wand was shaking like mad within his grasp. Why wasn't this working?  
  
"Expecto Pat..."  
  
 _"Did you see my Patronus? It was one of the largest in here! I bet it could take out several dementors at once!"_  Roman proclaimed to anyone who would listen.  
  
 _"That's not quite how it works, Roman..."_  Logan this time.  
  
"Expecto Patronum!" A mist again.  
  
 _"I don't think I could ask for a better Patronus. I love eagles!"_  Era's pleasure at how her Patronus turned out carried in her tone - though Virgil wasn't looking at her, he could tell she was smiling just from the sound of her voice.  
  
"Expecto Patronum..." Virgil jabbed his wand forward. A happy memory. His first day of Hogwarts?  
  
 _"I wasn't expecting a stallion..that seems more like Roman's thing, but I'll take it!"_  Paige added.  
  
"Expecto Patro..."  
  
 _"Aaaaaaaand times up! You all did wonderfully today! You may practice your Patronus charms if you would like. Please do bear in mind, however, that, what you have just done in class is by far a walk in the park compared to facing up against an actual Dementor. That is why, even though you may have succeeded in this classroom, you should practice and hone your skills. This is not something to be taken lightly. You are free to go,"_  Professor Goodwin announced to the class, before turning to head toward her office.  
  
The old gang filed out of the classroom. Logan, Era, Paige, Roman, and Patton were still going on about how amazing the lesson was and how they felt about each of their Patronuses respectively.   
  
Virgil said nothing. What was there to say? He hadn't  _conjured_  anything.  
  
Roman knew it, too. Roman pointed it out. He'd been joking, yes, but he was  _right_. Roman's Patronus might have been just as  _extra_  as Roman himself was, but at least he could cast a Patronus.   
  
Roman and Patton went one way. Paige and Era went another. That left Virgil and Logan.  
  
A Logan who  _still wished to discuss the events of their latest Defense Against the Dark Arts class_.  
  
 _"I must say, that class kept me utterly enraptured. I can certainly see why some of the Patronuses took the forms that they did, given the caster, but others...others intrigue me. I shall have to do some research into the subject later on! What about you, Virgil? What did you think of the class? I don't believe that I saw what your Patronus was?"_  
  
Of course. Logan  _would_  ask a question right off the bat that Virgil could not answer. "Dunno. I'll let you know when I find out." Virgil tried to keep his tone nonchalant, but he knew that a small degree of bitterness slipped through nevertheless.   
  
Logan's smile fell at once.  _"You mean...oh. I was wondering why you never...I thought you just had something on your mind. I apologize Virgil, I should have paid more attention..."_  
  
Virgil waved his hand. "Nah, it's fine. You were excited about your Patronus. And it was a pretty neat Patronus. A raven? Suits you well, Logan. Right after you called Roman out for making that reference to Poe."  
  
 _"Oh yes! That does seem awfully fitting, does it not? I doubt that it had any bearing on my results, as I believe they are predetermined based on a variety of factors? They can change though. This is utterly amazing. I have a lot of reading to do,"_   Despite the twisting feeling in his gut, Virgil opted to let Logan continue. Logan was speaking with almost as much passion as he did about Astronomy, and Virgil did not want to bring him down from that high.  
  
He could not help but wish that he was able to join in the excitement, however...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did most of the brainstorming when it came to the main Sides' Patronuses. Golden retriever seemed like the perfect choice for Patton, and peacock seemed right for Roman. For Logan, one of my friends (@talia23williams on tumblr) had Logan as a raven in an animal shift rp, and I've also seen Logan with an affinity for ravens in other works, so raven felt right for him. 
> 
> As for Era's? I asked my friend @KokoScripsIt on here, as Era was their character to start with. =P And with Paige, I asked @notalwaysthevillain, who the character is named after, to provide me with a patronus, and she provided me with the bay stallion.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thanks to KokoScripsit, who pointed out that Slytherin does not have a common kangaroo (a 'Common Roo', if you will), and that you don't capture a patronus, you conjure it. =P But seriously, big thanks to them for the read-over, as I apparently was in the mood for typos yesterday.

There was a little known fact about Patronuses that the professor neglected to mention in class. Then again, perhaps it  _wasn't_  a little known fact. Maybe he was the only one who didn't know about it. Wouldn't be the first time he was behind the curve when it came to Patronuses.  
  
In any case, it somehow got out that Virgil was barely even able to produce the silvery mist one generally associated with attempted Patronuses.   
  
There was also a rumor within the wizarding world that dark wizards and witches were unable to cast a Patronus Charm.  
  
It was not much of a reach for the particularly gossip-minded within the school to connect the two and voila, Virgil was subject to more rumors of his supposed  _deep involvement_  in the Dark Arts.  
  
"I'm getting real sick of this," Virgil muttered to his friends one day after class. A few particularly nasty seventh years opted to call him Thompson the Terror.   
  
All because he could not produce a Patronus.  
  
_"It's absurd. The Patronus Charm is a remarkable bit of magic, but it is also incredibly difficult to truly master. It is why they typically do not teach the Patronus Charm to students below NEWT level. In fact, I am surprised so many students in our class actually succeeded at producing a corporeal Patronus,"_  Logan stated.  
  
_"We were in a classroom. No dementors there,"_  Roman pointed out once Logan finished.  
  
_"To be fair, there aren't many threats in a classroom period. I'm sure the results would be a lot different out in the real world. I mean, I barely produced a Patronus myself, Virgil. Don't feel too bad,"_  Era smiled.  
  
Easy for her to say. She struggled, but she still succeeded. Virgil tried the spell so many times in class that he lost count, but he still failed.   
  
He didn't  _want_  to dwell on it, but it was hard not to when it was such a fascinating piece of magic - and Virgil was unable to join in with the excitement because the door slammed in his face before he could even step through it.  
  
_"What do you think your Patronus will be when you finally conjure one, Virge?"_  Patton asked him.  
  
"I can't conjure a Patronus Pat, you saw that."  
  
_"Whoa whoa. I must have missed the moment you were told you could never ever in a million years cast a Patronus as long as you live because you could not conjure one in class,"_  Roman folded his arms across his chest.  
  
"Oh come on. If I can't cast a Patronus in a classroom, why would I be able to cast one in front of one of the darkest creatures known to wizardkind?" It was so easy to retreat into his old habit of self deprecation that he barely even noticed he was doing so.  
  
_"It's true that there aren't any threats in a classroom, but that doesn't mean that you won't ever be able to cast one."_  
  
Logan's eyes suddenly went wide. "I...I must take my leave. I just realized that...I need to do a little research."[/i] Logan ran off at once, leaving the other five standing there bewildered.  
  
_"What was that about?"_  Paige asked, breaking the silence.  
  
_"...he is such a Ravenclaw. And he calls me extra,"_  Roman rolled his eyes.  
  
_"How does Logan even know what extra means?"_  Paige inquired in return.  
  
"I might have, uh, given him a little bit of a crash course on slang. He asked me to," Virgil shrugged, grateful that the subject was off of Patronuses.  
  
_"He keeps flash cards!"_  Patton announced.  _"With all the slang!"_  
  
Roman snorted loudly.  _"He keeps flash cards full of slang words? Oh he will never hear the end of this one. What a nerd."_  Roman laughed.  
  
"Watch your mouth Roman, that nerd is dating Thompson the Terror, remember?"

Roman's eyes went wide as he looked over at Virgil, who was leering at him with a huge grin on his face.  
  
_"Uh, kiddo, are you okay?"_  Patton eyed him warily.  
  
Virgil nodded. "Perfectly fine. Just trying to think of all the ways I can  _terrify_  Princey." He made to move closer to Roman, who flinched away.   
  
"Yeah, you better watch out."   
  
_"You're...you're joking, right?"_  Roman asked meekly.  
  
Virgil slowly shook his head...before bursting into laughter. Roman let out a massive sigh of relief.  
  
"Duh, of course I'm joking. What's the point of having a nickname like that if you can't have a little fun with it?" He still hated the nickname, but at least he could do  _something_  enjoyable with it.  
  
Roman huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.  _"I knew that. You didn't scare me one bit."_  
  
He was smiling, though.  
  
After spending a couple more hours hanging out with Patton, Roman, Paige, and Era, Virgil set out for the Slytherin Common Room in a much better mood than he had prior.   
  
_"Virgil, wait!"_  Logan ran up to him, carrying a book within his grasp.  
  
"Hey Logan. Why'd you run off so fast earlier? I had to defend your honor in a battle to the death with Roman."  
  
Logan's eyes briefly flew wide.  _"I'm sorry, you did what now?"_  
  
Virgil smiled. "Relax, it's a joke, Roman's fine...well, aside from the bruised ego he's nursing after Era utterly obliterated him in wizard's chest. Look out, he'll probably whine about it to you the next time you see him. I'd avoid him for the next several hours."  
  
Logan smiled as well.  _"I am certainly pleased to see you in higher spirits than you were earlier."_  
  
"Me too. But you never answered my question - Why did you go running off like that?"  
  
_"Oh! I had a theory that I wanted to read into concerning Patronuses."_  
  
Virgil could practically feel the tension sink back into his muscles as Logan casually reminded him of what he'd tried to distract himself from for the past few hours.  
  
_"Nonononono,"_  Logan said hastily, Virgil returning a look of bewilderment.  _"I mean I...I think I may have figured out why you could not cast a Patronus."_  
  
"Because of my secret plan to overthrow the Ministry of Magic and take over the world?"  
  
_"I...I am going to assume that that, hopefully, is a joke?"_  
  
Virgil nodded.  
  
_"Okay, good. As I thought, one's ability to cast a Patronus is tied to emotions, hence why a happy thought is conducive to success. A classroom is a generally peaceful environment with no dementors. There is no threat, making it the perfect environment for students learning to cast the spell for the first time."_  
  
"Okay...? What does this have to do with me? I couldn't cast the spell, remember?"  
  
_"Exactly. You could not cast the spell, Virgil. And I believe I know why."_  
  
Virgil blinked back at Logan. Logan seemed so certain, yet little of what he said made sense to Virgil.   
  
_"You have anxiety, Virgil."_  Logan stated, as plainly as he might have if he mentioned that the sky was blue.  
  
"Uh...yeah, duh. What does that have to do with my Patronus?" He was sure that Logan had a point, but it was taking an awfully long time for the Ravenclaw to get to that point and Virgil was growing impatient.   
  
_"You have anxiety, anxiety that appears to be exacerbated by unfamiliar situations and undue attention placed upon yourself. The majority of our class saw no threat within that classroom. You did. I bet that right away, you were looking at others in the class to see how they were performing on the charm, and immediately comparing yourself to them?"_  
  
Speechless, Virgil could only nod.   
  
_"From there, with every attempt that ended in anything other than a success, you found yourself deeper and deeper within a hole. Then, as more people succeeded...there were fewer students still practicing the spell, which meant more eyes on you. This feedback loop continued, making an ordinarily difficult task into an impossibility. I imagine that it is incredibly difficult to think of a pleasant thought with which to conjure a Patronus when your mind continues to assault you such cognitive distortions."_  
  
That...made a surprising amount of sense? "That still doesn't get me any closer to casting a Patronus, though," Virgil observed, to which Logan chuckled.  
  
_"Does it not? You need to practice the spell once more. Perhaps we can meet tomorrow. This time, however, we will practice the charm in a secluded area. The usual classroom on the fourth floor?"_    
  
"I...sure, why not?" What was the worst that could happen, he'd continue to be unable to cast a Patronus? He was there already. He'd give it a try.


	17. Chapter 17

Virgil and Logan convened outside of the Great Hall after dinner the next day, then proceeded to their usual abandoned classroom on the fourth floor. This time, however, they would not be joined by their friends.  
  
Once Logan closed the door behind them, Virgil retrieved his wand from his pocket and heaved a heavy sigh.  
  
"Expecto Patronum!" Absoulutely nothing. Virgil groaned.  
  
 _"You would do well to recall that this is an incredibly difficult spell and that no one succeeded during their first attempt in class,"_  Logan reminded him.  
  
"This isn't my first try though," Virgil shot back.  
  
 _"No it is not, but it is your first attempt in a new environment, so I want you to think of this as a new opportunity. Do not compare it to your attempts in class. Focus on what is happening in this moment, if you can,"_  Logan told him in an even voice.  
  
Virgil nodded, taking a deep breath and picturing the day that his magic first showed. He was seven, and his father actually seemed pleased with him - a rarity. "Expecto Patronum!" A thin silvery whisp. Progress, but not a corporeal Patronus.  
  
Virgil was inclined to focus on his failure. Logan refused to let him do so.  _"See? You have succeeded in conjuring something. Perhaps the memory that you used was not strong enough?"_  
  
Logan's words gave him something to focus on, to grasp on to. A life preserver in a sea of self-doubt that threatened to drown him.  
  
"Expecto Patronum!" His next several attempts were not much more successful than his second. The life preserver felt as though it was punctured, slowly leaking air until he plunged beneath the water's surface.  
  
 _"You are not the only one to struggle with this spell, Virgil. You are a strong and capable wizard, whether or not you succeed in casting this spell or not. You earned an O in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Goodwin considered you talented enough to tutor another student in the subject. Difficulty in casting one spell does not take that away from you,"_  Logan told him.  
  
Virgil nodded.   
  
Logan had to keep tossing him lifelines. He must have attempted the spell thirty times. "Expecto Patronum!" On the thirty-first try (or whatever number it was, it wasn't like he was counting), something more substantial burst forth. He'd used the memory of his first kiss with Logan as the impetus for his spell. It seemed as though the silvery mist was coming together, about to take shape...but then it dissipated.  
  
Virgil was disappointed, but also inspired.  
  
He made progress. He had hope that maybe, if he kept at it, he could succeed.  
  
Virgil and Logan continued to meet for the next several days. Some days were more difficult than others. Every time he nearly cast a corporeal Patronus, Logan reminded him that he worked hard, that he was making progress, that he could succeed. He needed to latch on to that hope to keep going.  
  
Then, one day, it happened.

He closed his eyes, taking a leisurely stroll down memory lane. He thought of Patton approaching him in Care of Magical Creatures three years before. Patton persisting, even as Virgil put up every wall that he could think of to keep Patton out. Patton admitting that the reason he approached Virgil was that he needed a friend. Patton, convincing him that he  _deserved_  a friend.  
  
Meeting Patton, befriending Patton...it led to everything. It led to Virgil meeting his other friends. Era, Roman, Paige, Astrit...  
  
Logan.  
  
His boyfriend, the love of his life, he met through his best friend.  
  
The Hufflepuff was the one person who saw that Virgil needed someone when he needed someone most, and Patton proceeded to  _become_  that someone for Virgil. Patton gave him a chance at happiness. Things weren't perfect, but when were things  _ever_  perfect? They were still an improvement from where he was a few years prior, a quiet, angry boy who lashed out at the world around him and followed his brother around like a lost dog.  
  
Patton gave him hope at a time that he needed it most - and now he had more friends who could do the same. Virgil thought of each of their smiling faces. His eyes flew open as he tightened his grip on his wand. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"  
  
The Patronus was sleek and large, feline in its form. Spotted,  _agile_. It lingered for a moment or so before gradually fading. He did it.  
  
He actually  _did it_. Virgil could feel the corners of his mouth raise higher and higher against his will. He did it, he actually did it!  
  
Logan, in the meantime, pushed his glasses up his nose.  _"Intriguing. It appears that your Patronus is a cheetah."_  
  
"My Patronus is a cheetah," Virgil repeated, beaming at how delightful that felt to say. "My Patronus is a cheetah!" he repeated.  _His Patronus_. He wasn't some freak utterly incapable of casting a Patronus. He didn't have some deep-seated eternal darkness that prevented him from being able to cast a Patronus. He was not evil. He was not a villain.  
  
Rarely had he ever felt this  _giddy_  about something.  
  
\-------------------------------------------  
  
 _"A cheetah? Neat!"_  Paige responded the next time the entire group was together for Defense Against the Dark Arts.  
  
 _"A strong, fierce animal. Suits you well, Dark and Stormy Knight."_  Roman added.  
  
"That's high praise coming from you, Sir Sing A Lot," Virgil retorted.  
  
 _"I knew you could do it!"_  Patton beamed.  
  
 _"Not surprised your Patronus is a type of cat. I saw you literally hiss at the Divination teacher once,"_  Era observed.  
  
"She deserved it. Tea leaves are stupid and I've never been able to do any sort of divining the future from them," Virgil defended himself.  
  
 _"Me neither, but I don't think anyone was expecting you to channel your inner cat. The entire room went silent,"_  Era chortled.  
  
"Don't remind me," Virgil shuddered a little. It was one thing to hiss at the professor. It was another for the  _entire class to notice and turn their eyes to him at once_.  
  
 _"You know, I can see why your Patronus is a cheetah, Virgil - and it's not because you hissed at Professor Avenir,"_  Logan started.  
  
 _"Is it because he hissed at the deputy headmaster last year?"_  Roman inquired.  
  
 _"No, it must be because he hissed at those seventh years we were walking by at the beginning of the school year who said he was working with Deceit,"_  Patton shrugged.  
  
 _"Just how many times has Virgil hissed at someone in this school?"_  Paige whispered to Era. Era shrugged, looking somewhat befuddled at the whole thing.  
  
Virgil chewed on his lip, biting back a chuckle.  
  
 _"No..although I will agree that those are very cat-like behaviors. I was more referring to the fact that cheetahs are actually prone to anxious behaviors themselves,"_  Logan explained.  
  
 _"How do you know all these things, Logan? I swear you must read a book a night,"_  Roman stared at Logan as if he had two heads.  
  
 _"Two, sometimes, if I have the time,"_  Logan replied. Roman gaped.  
  
 _"I am, of course, joking, though I do read a lot as you may have guessed. I did research on each of our animals after we cast our Patronuses. Virgil was the most recent to cast his Patronus, so the information that I have read about cheetahs is the freshest in my mind as I have just researched them last night,"_  Logan informed Roman.

_"Ooh, can you tell me what you read about my animal, then?"_  Patton clapped his hands together excitedly.  
  
 _"I want to hear what you read about my animal!"_  Roman added.  
  
The group was back to talking excitedly about their Patronuses again, but this time Virgil could join in. It was well worth the wait, he found.


	18. Chapter 18

Virgil found it much easier to deal with the rumors in the ensuing days. The fact that Virgil actually  _could_  conjure a Patronus had not become common knowledge, and Virgil was content with that. Providing new information would just give new life to the rumors and it would take the gossip even longer to die down.  
  
As it was, Virgil heard little from the rumor mill even a few days after he successfully cast his Patronus in relative secrecy. He still heard Thompson the Terror on occasion, but with a Quidditch game coming up the following weekend, a lot of students were talking about that instead.

Classes were going well enough, though there was more homework now that they were NEWT level students. They also had a greater number of free periods, periods during which there were fewer students in hallways, Common Rooms, and any area other than classrooms - the sort of environment that Virgil enjoyed, in other words.  
  
Free periods did not always coincide with one's friend's free periods, however. Virgil opted to spend this particular free period in the Slytherin Common Room as Logan, Patton, Roman, Era, Paige, and even Astrit were all in class. There were two other students in the Slytherin Common Room - Elliott and Shane.  
  
Things were still a tad bit awkward with Shane. The other 6th year was grateful, but what did one say to the guy they discovered twitching uncontrollably in his bed as a result of a curse - and vice versa?   
  
Besides, free periods were set aside by the school for the purpose of studying, and all three students were working on assignments for various classes. The only time they spoke up was usually to ask for someone else's advice on whatever it was that they were working on.

Virgil felt as if he was coming down with something. He felt sluggish, and was finding it increasingly difficult to focus on his Potions homework. He felt as if he could barely keep his eyes open, despite sleeping relatively well (for him) the night before.  
  
 _"You started on the Divination homework yet Elliott?"_  he heard Shane ask.  
  
Virgil rolled his eyes. "You can't tell the future through look at tea leaves. They aren't time machines."  
  
...what? That didn't even make sense to his own ears.   
  
 _"How would you know? You failed Divination, didn't you?"_  Elliott asked him offhandedly.  
  
"Because I'm..." Virgil caught himself at the last moment. He'd been about to tell Elliott and Shane that he was a Seer, but realized that wasn't something he wanted to share with present company.   
  
He also realized something else, something that made him sit up in his seat immediately.  
  
"I think I'm gonna go take a nap. I'm feeling weird," Virgil told the other two Slytherins, hastily rising to his feet. He had to close his eyes a moment upon standing to halt the dizziness that threatened to overcome him.  
  
 _"You need help?"_  Shane asked, eying him concernedlym  
  
Virgil shook his head. "I'm fine." He used the wall to guide himself and made his way up the stairs and curled up in bed, falling asleep almost right away.  
  
Meanwhile, Shane and Elliott were glancing at one another.  
  
 _"You think we should check on him?"_  Shane asked Elliott.  
  
Elliott shrugged.  _"I don't know. He's probably just coming down with that bug that's been going around."_  It wasn't that he wasn't concerned, but he didn't want to seem overly concerned either.   
  
Shane, on the other hand...  _"I think I'm gonna check on him just to make sure. I mean I kinda owe the guy my life or at least my health, the least I can do is check to make sure he made it to bed alright."_  
  
 _"Alright, I'll come with you,"_  Elliott told him. Elliott and Shane made their way up to the Slytherin Boys Dorm. They were nearly to the 6th year dorm proper when they heard a yell.

Elliott and Shane both hastened their pace as the shouting continued.   
  
"Virgil?" Shane called out, stepping into their dorm.  
  
\---------------------  
  
Virgil awoke to Elliott and Shane standing over him. "Wha..."   
  
Elliott looked him over. They managed a small smile when they saw that Virgil was awake.  _"Hey, how are you feeling?"_  
  
"Um..." Virgil rubbed his head. "Pretty good, actually. I think that nap worked wonders."  
  
Shane and Elliott exchanged glances.  _"I dunno man, you were only out for like ten minutes max, and I'm pretty sure you were having one hell of a nightmare,"_  Shane told him.  
  
Virgil shot a confused look at the other two Slytherins. "Nightmare? What makes you think that?"   
  
 _"You were yelling. Were you dreaming about being possessed by a demon? Because that's what you sounded like. No offense,"_  Elliott replied.  
  
Virgil sat up sharply. Elliott hastily leaned forward as if to catch him.  _"Careful, you looked like you were about to fall over earlier."_  
  
"Its fine. Like I said, I feel better now. I just...had a nightmare, like you said." He  _did_  feel better in that regard, but he was trying to keep himself from descending into a full panic. He knew full well he hadn't had a nightmare. Why did Elliott and Shane have to follow him?  
  
He supposed there was one advantage to Elliott and Shane's presence. "Was I talking in my sleep? What did I say?"  
  
Shane shrugged helplessly.  _"I dunno man, I was too busy trying to focus on whether or not I'd have to call in a priest."_  
  
Elliott rolled their eyes.  _"You said something about the snake almost having the mouse within its clutches...it was kinda strange and didn't make much sense. Then again that's what dreams are usually like so..."_  
  
 _Yes, continue thinking that, Elliott,_  Virgil thought to himself. The snake was getting closer to the mouse. What did snakes do with mice? They ate them. The snake was going to go after the mouse. The snake? There could be a lot of snakes. Anyone in Slytherin could be referred to as a snake, Virgil included.  
  
"Did I say anything else?" Virgil asked, looking almost frantically between Elliott and Shane.  
  
 _"You definitely did, but we didn't catch any of it,"_  Shane explained.  
  
 _"We were still coming up the stairs to check on you when the yelling started,"_  Elliott added.  
  
"Well...thanks for your help guys," Virgil told them. Elliott nodded.   
  
Shane chuckled.  _"Hey, you save me from a curse, I save you from a nightmare. I think that makes us even."_  
  
Virgil managed a small smile in response. "Probably. Thanks." Virgil gave a two finger salute as Elliott and Shane left the dormitory.  
  
Once he was certain they were gone, he ran a hand through his hair and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, scribbling down what little information Elliott and Shane provided him with.  
  
His heart pounded. He could hear it in his ears.  
  
He'd just made another prophecy and they hadn't even figured out  _Era's_  yet.


	19. Chapter 19

_"You're absolutely certain that they did not hear any more of the prophecy?"_  
  
"The answer is the same now as it was fifteen minutes ago. Yes, Logan," Virgil let out a frustrated sigh as he set up his telescope for Astronomy class. They would be stargazing tonight. Virgil much preferred the nights he and Logan went stargazing on their own to the nights they had to do so accompanied by twenty other sixth years, but he still enjoyed it nevertheless.  
  
They were far enough away from other students and whispering quietly enough that Virgil did not think that anyone could overhear their conversation - Though he caught himself glancing over at his classmates every once in a while to make certain.  
  
 _"That doesn't give you much to work off of though, does it?"_  Paige commented from beside Logan, making a face. The only two students close enough to overhear where Virgil and Logan were saying were Era and Paige - and they were already in on the secret that Virgil was a Seer anyway.   
  
 _"It doesn't, but that sometimes happens with prophecies. It's nice when someone overhears them, but that's not always the case. I think Virgil was more concerned with not making a scene than making sure that his prophecy was heard,"_  Era turned one of the knobs on her telescope, attempting to adjust it to the right setting before they set to work on their star charts.  
  
"I just know I'll never be able to live up to your performance in the Entrance Hall a few years ago, so why even bother?" Virgil remarked with a slight smirk.  
  
 _"Yes, well, it's hard to compete with a master,"_  Era grinned.

Virgil was upset enough that Elliott and Shane heard  _part_  of the prophecy. They might not have realized what they heard now, but what if they put the pieces together later on and told someone?  
  
On the one hand, everyone knew Era was a Seer and she was able to lead a fairly normal student life. On the other...why invite more attention to himself? He was content to keep to himself and the friends that he did have, no matter what the universe might want for him otherwise.   
  
And it was difficult enough being the brother of Lionel Thompson. He didn't particularly want to be known as Lionel Thompson's  _Seer_  brother. He could just imagine the headlines now.

He was also fairly certain that, given the choice, Era would not have elected to give her first prophecy in front of large crowd either.  
  
 _"The snake? That could be just about anyone..."_  Paige wondered out loud.  
  
"Its most likely a Slytherin, let's be honest here. Probably Deceit. And I'm probably the mouse in the prophecy," Virgil told the other three.  
  
 _"That's not necessarily the case...do recall that there were prophecies last year that appeared to point to Deceit but actually pointed to Astrit's dark wizard ancestor,"_  Logan pointed out.  
  
 _"So we may be dealing with another dark wizard? That's so much more comforting,"_  Era brushed a few stray hairs out of her face so that she could look through her telescope easier.

 _"We don't even know that that dark wizard was even a Slytherin. He could have been a Hufflepuff for all we know,"_  Paige added.  
  
"Not like any of this matters. We don't have enough information to figure things out, that much is clear," Virgil let out a heavy sigh.  
  
 _"Alright class, time to aim your telescopes 45 degrees to the left of the moon so we can get started on your star charts tonight!"_  
  
The four exchange glances before setting to work.  
  
\------------------------  
  
"No, you have to make a movement like this with your wand. See?" Virgil proceeded to incant the countercurse he was attempting to teach Astrit.  
  
Virgil and Astrit were attempting to make up for lost time. They'd had to reschedule one of their tutoring sessions as the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team scheduled practices almost every night the prior week.  
  
Despite the match being done and over with, however, Astrit seemed more distracted than usual.

"So what's up?" Virgil asked when Astrit successfully cast the countercurse they were practicing.  
  
 _"What do you mean?"_  Astrit responded with confusion.  
  
"You have something on your mind. And don't try to pretend you don't."  
  
Astrit sighed, mumbling.  _"I was thinking about last year again."_  
  
Virgil immediately frowned upon hearing this. Astrit saw this and sighed.  _"That's why I didn't want to bring it up. I know you went through a lot last year too."_  
  
"Yeah, but don't worry about bringing it up. I think about it a lot too," Virgil confessed.  
  
 _"You do?"_    
  
"When don't I think about things a lot? Overthinking is kinda my thing," the Slytherin muttered.  
  
Astrit chuckled.  _"Yeah, I know that feeling. I just...can't help but feel it's not over?"_

"I'm guessing your sister told you about the most recent prophecy?"  
  
Astrit nodded, appearing to be deep in thought for a moment or so before he answered Virgil's question.  _"Yeah but..I thought that before I ever heard that prophecy. Or...the part of the prophecy that your housemates caught. Before my sister's too. Your prophecies were just added confirmation."_  
  
Virgil let out a sigh. "I've been worried ever since my brother broke away from the Ministry." Well, more worried than usual at any rate.  
  
 _"I've been worried since I got free last year. It's been too quiet. After what we went through last year...I can't help but feel like there's a storm coming?"_  
  
Virgil drummed his fingers on the table. He agreed with Astrit, but to hear the fourteen year old voice what Virgil thought all along out loud?  
  
"Well, guess that leaves us only one option then," Virgil said at last.  
  
Astrit glanced over at him in puzzlement. "Hmmm?"  
  
Virgil indicated the open Defense Against the Dark Arts on the table in front of Astrit. "We get our umbrellas ready so we're prepared when the rain does come."  
  
Astrit nodded and the two set back to work. 


	20. Chapter 20

Virgil soon discovered that Astrit had something else on his mind in addition to the concerns he'd shared with Virgil during their tutoring session.

This subject, however, was significantly more pleasant in nature than the other.

Era's birthday was coming up and Astrit was trying to brainstorm a gift for his sister's big day. Virgil knew that he had to get a gift for Era himself, though it wasn't going to be something quite as fancy as what he got for Logan. That stood to reason, of course - Logan was his boyfriend and Era was a friend.

He purchased his gift during their next visit to Hogsmeade after hitting up a few different stores.

By the time Era's birthday rolled around, the November chill permeated the Hogwarts grounds. Snow felt as if it could fall any day, yet the grounds remained dry.

Christmas was coming soon, and Virgil already picked up a couple of gifts for the occasion. That also meant that his own birthday was coming up the week before Christmas, a daunting idea by itself.

He'd be seventeen, of age in the wizarding world. Logan, who was already seventeen of course, assured him that there was little difference between the ages of sixteen and seventeen so long as they were still students at Hogwarts, but it still felt like he was approaching a point of no return.

He was going to be an adult, and he still had no idea what he wanted to do after Hogwarts.

Era had a few other friends, and she spent much of the day with them before she and Paige bade them farewell and went to meet with Virgil, Logan, Patton, Roman, and Astrit in the abandoned fourth floor classroom they'd unofficially adopted as their own.

_"How does it feel being an adult, Era?"_  Roman asked the Gryffindor girl, unintentionally hitting on the very point of contention weighing on Virgil these past few days. He tensed the slightest bit and Logan, observing this, immediately slipped his hand into Virgil's and gave it a squeeze.

_"Its...it doesn't feel that much different than sixteen, honestly?"_  Era admitted. 

Logan shot Virgil a look as if to say 'see?'. Virgil rolled his eyes, yet there was a slight twitch at one corner of his mouth.

_"Open 'em, open 'em!"_  Patton shouted, pointing to the small pile of gifts that found their home on one of the tables in the room.

Era chuckled and went for Roman's gift first. It was a collage made of pictures of their small group over the past year. Virgil even featured in a few, despite his best efforts to slink away whenever he spotted a camera in the vicinity.

Logan's was next - a book, which surprised next to no one. Fortunately, Era enjoyed reading well enough to appreciate the gift.

Patton's was an elaborately decorated card accompanied by a bag filled with sweets.

_"Mine next! It's something you've wanted for a while now!"_  Paige beamed.

_"The number for that cute girl in Transformation? Aww Paige you shouldn't have,"_  Era responded with a grin. Paige playfully swatted her best friend on the arm and watched as Era opened her gift.

_"Self-Transfiguration? You're right, I've been looking for this book for a long time! Where did you find it? I couldn't find it anywhere in Hogsmeade!"_ Era eagerly flipped through the book in question as she awaited Paige's answer.

  _I had my father send it in,"_ Paige responded with a warm smile. Era flipped through a few more pages before setting the book aside to open up the rest of her gifts.

Virgil's gift was next. Era unwrapped it and looked at it in confusion.  _"...a book on Astrology? But I thought Divination wasn't exactly your thing,"_  Era turned the book over in her hand before bursting into laughter.  _"Oh, I see. That's great."_

_"What is?"_  Paige inquired.

_"Its a bunch of joke horoscopes and the like,"_  Era grinned.  _"Perfect for a couple of Seers who think most other methods of Divination are a load of bunk."_

_"And now the best for last...Astrit, may I see yours?"_  Era asked of her younger brother. Astrit handed Era his gift, nervously awaiting her reaction.

Era opened up the gift in question, which appeared to be a set of embroidery needles. Virgil was surprised, yet intrigued.

"I didn't even know you were into embroidery," he murmured.

_"_ _Me neither,"_ Patton admitted.

_"_ _Well now we know what to get you for Christmas!"_ Roman proclaimed.

 Era snickered. "Astrit and I don't celebrate it, remember? I appreciate the thought though."

  _"Awww darn, that's right,"_ Roman muttered.

_"Happy birthday, sister,"_  Astrit told Era with a huge smile that Era returned, bringing the topic of conversation back to Era's birthday proper.

Once they'd spent a bit more time chatting, they made their way out into the hall. The group spent a few more minutes wishing Era a happy birthday, then began to go their separate ways. Roman, Logan, Era, and Astrit headed upstairs while Virgil, Paige, and Patton made their way down.

They didn't make it far, though, before Elliott approached them. They looked out of breath, as if they'd been running around for a while.  _"There you are, I've been looking all over for you. Where were you?"_  they asked Virgil.

"Uh...with some friends? Why?" Why would Elliott be looking for him? They were on fairly good terms with one another, but Elliott had their own friend group. They really didn't see much of each other outside of classes and the Slytherin Common Room. So why was Elliott looking for him...and why did they look so frazzled?

 It did not bode well. Virgil's stomach did a somersault as he anxiously awaited Elliott's response.

_"The head...the headmistress wants to talk to you. Something happened at your mom's place. She didn't tell me what, she just said to send you her way as soon as I found you,"_ Elliott told him.

"What?!" Without another word, Virgil marched down the corridor toward the Headmistress' office. Patton and Paige were not far behind.


	21. Chapter 21

Virgil leaned against the wall, trying to keep upright. His legs were shaking so badly that he felt as if he might collapse into a heap at any moment. He, Patton, and Paige were waiting for the Headmistress to return from the owlery.  
  
_"What do you think might have happened, Virge?"_  Patton broke through the silence at last.  
  
Virgil shrugged, swallowing hard. If it was important enough to send Elliott searching for him, it had to be something big.   
  
_"I hope its not anything too bad. We're here for you though if it is, remember that,"_  Paige told him.  
  
Virgil glanced up at the two Hufflepuffs that accompanied him, a sad imitation of a smile making it's way onto his face. He appreciated the sentiment, but he couldn't bring himself to smile genuinely when he could barely keep himself together.  
  
He didn't want to, but he supposed he could handle breaking down in front of Patton. He'd done it before, after his first prophecy at Hogwarts the year prior. Paige, on the other hand? Virgil did like Paige. He trusted Paige more than most, and most certainly considered Paige a good friend. Nevertheless, she was not his  _best friend_ , and he did not particularly enjoy the thought of descending into a panic attack in front of her when he wasn't even aware of what happened yet.  
  
Of course, his worry about this exact subject was not doing wonders to help his already fragile mental state.  
  
_Finally_  the Headmistress turned up and ushered Virgil, Patton, and Paige into her office. She waited until Virgil was seated before clearing her throat.  
  
_"Mr. Thompson, I regret to inform you that there was a break-in at your mother's home in Diagon Alley. Investigators are still looking through the flat in an attempt to see if anything was stolen,"_ the Headmistress revealed. She paused a moment, as if allowing a brief period for Virgil to collect himself and his thoughts. Then she proceeded with the second piece of news, the part he dreaded most.  
  
_"Your mother was home at the time,"_  she continued on, and Virgil felt a tightening in his chest.   
  
The Headmistress let out a sigh.  _"The bad news is that she was attacked by the intruder or intruders. The good news...she has been relocated to St. Mungo's for recovery."_

Virgil was glad that he was sitting, otherwise he was fairly certain that his legs would have given out. Patton reached out to put a hand on Virgil's shoulder, but when Patton's hand made contact, Virgil jolted sharply.  
  
Patton immediately apologized profusely.  _"I'm sorry kiddo, I was just trying to...I forgot how you are about being touched!"_  
  
Virgil waved his hand. "Don't...it's not...just warn me when you do it, k?" He didn't always mind being touched, especially if it was by someone he knew and trusted (and Patton fell under this umbrella), but he didn't always do well under unexpected touch.   
  
Virgil's gaze returned to the Headmistress. "Is...how bad is it?" Virgil was surprised at how quiet his voice was. Perhaps because as much as he wanted to know the answer,  _needed_  to know the answer...he was also afraid to hear it.

 _"I do not have all the details, sadly. I can, however, say with confidence that she is expected to survive,"_  the Headmistress answered.  
  
Virgil nodded, letting out a small sigh of relief. It wasn't the 'she's being checked over and is expected to go home later today' that he was hoping for, but it was a lot better than he'd feared.  
  
_"We have hooked the fire in my office up to the Floo Network if you wish to visit your mother. Some of your family is already there, I am told,"_  the Headmistress continued.  
  
"My family?" Virgil paled.   
  
The Headmistress' eyes widened slightly as she realized how her words could be taken and hastened to remedy the situation.  _"Your mother's family, I should specify. Your uncle, aunt, and one of your cousins."_  
  
Virgil let out a strained chuckle. His aunt, uncle, and cousin?  _That_  he could deal with. His brother and father? Not so much.  
  
Virgil largely suspected that his brother and father were involved with this attack after all, a sentiment shared by the Headmistress if her hasty explanation as to what family waited for him at St. Mungo's was any indication.

Patton and Paige both looked at Virgil.  
  
_"We'll tell the others about what happened. Hope your mother is okay kiddo,"_  Patton gave Virgil a tight hug.   
  
Paige stepped in to give him a hug as well, though her hug wasn't quite so  _strong_.  _"We're all here if you need to talk to anyone,"_  Paige added.  
  
Virgil managed a small smile of gratitude toward the two of them before tossing a handful of Floo Powder into the fire and stepping in. "St. Mungo's," he announced, the Headmistress' office vanishing into a blur. Had he not been born into the wizarding world and thus acclimated to Floo Powder at a fairly young age, he was fairly certain that he would have never given it a shot. As it was, travel by Floo Powder could still be disorienting on occasion, leading to him closing his eyes for most of the journey. When he opened them again, he found himself in the lobby of St. Mungo's. It occurred to him that he didn't even know where his mother's room was located, or even what floor she was on. He turned this way and that, trying to decide what to do next, but he was suddenly feeling incredibly overwhelmed. There were so many noises, so many things happening around him. He balled his hands into fists and started to head to a fairly empty corner of the lobby. A familiar voice, his cousin's, came to the rescue.   
  
_"Hey babe, we're over here!"_  Virgil glanced upward at once, making eye contact with his cousin. He snapped and gestured for Virgil to come over.

Good, he'd found his family. Now he needed answers.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Paige (notalwaysthevillain) for helping me to figure out how to write Remy and looking over my writing. And thanks as always to KokoScripsit for being a big help as always. He/she is great. <3

Virgil was seated next to his cousin in the lobby of St. Mungo's. He was grateful that they were out of the way of most of the hustle and bustle, though he did tense up any time he felt as if someone glanced in their direction for a long period of time.

_"She was placed under some sort of curse. She lost consciousness, but briefly regained it for a short period of time. They are working on combating the worst of the effects right now, though they do warn that there may be some residual effects from it,"_  his aunt explained to him in an even tone.

"Did they say what sort of curse it was?" Virgil looked at his relatives. 

_"Rembrandt? Do you want to explain?"_  His aunt looked to his uncle.

_"They're not sure. They believe it may have been a novel curse...that is, one created by the caster themself,"_  Uncle Rembrandt explained, shifting a little in his seat.

It was at that moment that a force to his left pulled him up from his seat and began to drag him down the hall. Virgil was so bewildered that it took him a moment or so to realize what was happen. Once he did, he snatched his arm away from his cousin at once and leveled a glare at the other young man.

"Warn a dude next time, k? What was that all about, Remy?"

This was exactly why he and his cousin didnt always see eye to eye. Remy was bold, daring, and boisterous. Virgil was decidedly  _not_.

_"Shut up, I got this handled,"_  Remy waved his hand and went to reach for Virgil's arm again.

"Whoa. You have  _what_  handled?" Virgil's heart was racing. He didn't know what was going on. He didn't like when he didn't know what was going on. He pulled his hand away, holding it at his side where Remy could not keep  _grabbing_  at it.

_"We're grabbing a bite to eat. The healers are with Aunt Re right now and we won't be able to see her for at least another hour."_  Remy looked Virgil up and down and made a face.  _"And you_  really _could use some down time. You look like a hot mess."_

Virgil looked at his reflection in the passing glass as they walked to...wherever it was they were headed. Remy hadn't exactly told him exactly where they were headed, just that they were grabbing a bite to eat. As the two walked, Virgil noticed that Remy had a coffee from Starbucks in one hand.

_"Come on, let's walk. We don't have all day,"_  Remy sped up, and Virgil let out a grumble of frustration before heading after him.

"Why do you have coffee from a Muggle coffee place?" Remy was a pureblood, and the only reason Virgil knew about Starbucks was through Muggleborn and half blood friends."

_"Oh, this?"_  Remy held up his drink.  _"I work at the Muggle Liason Office now. It's just a happy bonus that I get Starbucks. Muggles are_  so much  _better at coffee. I could live on this stuff."_  Remy took an obnoxiously loud sip through his straw, as if trying to prove a point.

Virgil and Remy might not always see eye to eye, but Virgil didn't mind catching up with Remy like this. He didn't see much of his mother's family before, usually his dad's.

He had a feeling he'd be seeing a lot more of his maternal relatives now that his parents were no longer together and Deceit and their father remained missing.

Supposedly. 

Virgil and Remy polished off their food and then made their way back to the main lobby where Remy's parents were waiting.

Had it been an hour yet?

Judging by the fact that a Healer was speaking with Uncle Rembrandt and Aunt Helena when he returned, it had. Virgil hastened his speed, ignoring the mutters from Remy as he did so.

The Healer turned to look toward the two at once.  _"The older boy is your son, Remy..."_

_"Yo,"_  Remy waved before taking another drink from his coffee.

_"And I presume that this is Virgil, Renilda's son?"_  the Healer continued. Virgil nodded in response.

" _You may follow me, Virgil...your mother wishes to see you,"_  the words were formal, but the Healer had a kind and gentle face that reminded him slightly of Patton. Remy clapped him on the shoulder as he passed, though it did not bother him as much as he saw it coming ahead of time and thus could prepare himself for it.

Virgil remained silent as the Healer led him to his mother's room. Once he passed through the door, all bets were off. He abandoned all pretenses and ran to his mother's bedside. 

_"Hello Virgil, it's great to see you,"_  she smiled, though it didnt quite reach her eyes.

"Hi mom," he whispered in return. The Healer stepped out of the room with little fanfare, leaving the mother and son duo to talk alone.

_"I'll be out of here soon, Virgil. Don't worry about me too much,"_  Renilda told him, to which Virgil responded with something that sounded halfway between a choke and a chuckle.

"Yeah, that'll be a piece of cake for me," he responded.

Renilda shot him another wry smile.  _"I mean it though. Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself. I do have one question, though,"_  she murmured, her voice lowering slightly.  _"Did you foresee this?"_

Virgil's heart skipped a beat at that. "I.." He thought back to his most recent prophecy - the one that Elliott and Shane only heard the end of. "I don't actually know. I was in my dorm and my, uh, my friends only overheard the end of it." It felt like a stretch to call Elliott and Shane friends, at least along the same lines as his  _other_  friends (the ones he'd been through hell and back with), but it didn't seem like a good time to get into the subtle nuances of school friendships.

_"What did the end of it say?"_

Virgil frowned, chewing on his bottom lip. "Something about a snake almost having a mouse in its clutches?"

His mother nodded, remaining silent for a moment or so before she spoke once more.  _"I'm sorry if I ever made you feel strange for you ability. I admit I didn't know how to react at first. My youngest son, falling into a trance and making a prophecy...I worried about you, what might happen to you."_

Virgil continued to chew on his lip, unsure what to say to that.

_"They don't know who broke in,"_  Renilda told him.

Virgil let out a snort. "Really? Victim's son and ex-husband, who have known connections to dark magic, up and disappear, and they don't know who broke in?"

_"Virgil, you don't know that for certain..."_

"But it seems awfully likely don't you think? You're not...you're not safe where you are," Virgil told her, trying to keep his voice steady 

_"No, I'm not,"_ Renilda agreed.  _ _"I'm looking to move in with your aunt and uncle for a time."__  
  
"...good." At least at his aunt and uncle's house there would be three adult wizards ready to take on the threat. Not to mention, Uncle Rembrandt was an accomplished duelist to boot. 

There was one thing he still wondered about, though. "They still don't know what sort of curse was placed on you?" _  
_  
Renilda shook her head.  _"Unfortunately no."_ Her gaze hardened. _"I just hope they learned their lesson. It'll take a lot more than that to get me."_ Renilda looked so resolute that it was hard not to admire. 

Nevertheless, even as Virgil stepped through the fire and back to Hogwarts a few hours later, Virgil continued to worry. The Healers assured him his mother would be fine. His aunt and uncle assured him that they would take good care of Renilda as she recovered. Everything would be fine.

Except it wouldn't. Not as long as Renilda's attackers remained at large. Astrit was right, a storm was coming, and storms like this were not fleeting. This was only the beginning, Virgil was certain of it.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm...sorry, this chapter ended up WAY more angsty than I thought it would be at the outset. It probably doesn't help that I had Thomas' cover of Breathing playing in my head as I typed this. XD It somehow seems fitting given the subject matter portrayed here.

Virgil awoke to the sound of steady purring.  
  
Storm was curled up next to him. He slowly pushed himself into a seated position and glanced around the 6th year dormitory. None of his dorm mates were in sight. They must have already headed down for breakfast. Virgil yawned and stretched his arms over his head before moving to his feet. He quickly tossed some clothes on, combed his hair, and put on his usual eyeliner before heading out of the dorm. By this time, Storm was up as well and at his heels.'

The Slytherin Common Room was mostly empty, though Elliott was seated in one of the chairs scribbling frantically. Finishing up on some last minute homework, Virgil assumed. They glanced up when they heard Virgil's footsteps and waved.  
  
_"How's your mom?"_  they asked.   
  
"She's doing okay. Thanks for asking," Virgil told the other Slytherin. He wasn't sure if Elliott only knew as much as they did the night before, when they told Virgil the Headmistress was looking for him in the first place, or if news about the attack at his mother's place reached the rest of the wizarding world.  
  
Whatever the case, Virgil did his best to block out any other discussions on his way down to breakfast, and at breakfast proper. The school might be talking about what happened, or they might not be. Regardless, Virgil couldn't  _deal_  with that right now. He needed to talk to his friends first.  
  
Something that he could  _finally_  do after breakfast when the group met outside of the Great Hall and headed to their usual meeting place on the fourth floor. They still had some time to go before they separated for their first classes of the day. Once everyone turned up, Virgil did his best to fill his friends in on what happened the night before - what happened at the flat, how his mother was doing, and how they weren't sure who was responsible for what happened yet.  
  
_"What do you mean they aren't sure? It was obviously Deceit!"_  Roman blurted out, aghast.  
  
_"Sadly, no one can say that for sure. No one actually saw Deceit there,"_  Paige pointed out.  
  
_"It does seem awfully likely, though, doesn't it?"_  Patton added warily.  
  
_"It does, but without evidence it is merely a suspicion, and the Ministry cannot make an arrest based on a suspicion,"_  Logan informed them.  
  
_"They also can't arrest a fugitive they haven't been able to find for the past few months,"_  Era observed, something that brought the conversation as it stood to a grinding halt.  
  
_"Oh...right. That does put a damper on the party,"_  Roman muttered.   
  
"I think it was Deceit too, with possible help from my father. I think my mom does too, though she told my uncle that she didn't see her attacker's face or faces," Virgil added, figuring that he ought to participate in the discussion as it was  _his mother's_  attack that they were discussing.  
  
_"Was she the mouse referred to in your most recent prophecy?"_  Era wondered aloud.  
  
_"What? No, the mouse is clearly Virgil, who else would it be?"_  Roman protested.  
  
_"It could very well be his mother. In that case, the snake might not even be Deceit - it might be Virgil's father,"_  Era pulled out a notebook and began to jot something down - presumably, the very ideas that she was sharing with the rest of the group.  
  
_"Or the prophecy doesn't have anything to do with any of this?"_  Astrit piped up, joining the group a bit late. Virgil jumped slightly, though he was relieved to see that no one appeared to have notice.  
  
_"What else would the prophecy refer to, though?"_  Patton frowned.  
  
"We were led on a wild goose chase last year with the prophecy. We thought it was talking about Deceit when it was talking about Astrit's ancestor and the necklace," Virgil glanced over at Astrit. No wonder Astrit was the one to bring this possibility up - Astrit was one of the most affected by the prophecies the year before, given that  _he_  was his ancestor's biggest target. Virgil might have suffered at the hands of the dark wizard as well, but Virgil was only a means to an end - the vessel the dark wizard utilized to achieve his goal. He could have used anyone - Virgil just happened to be the unlucky soul who touched the necklace first and fell under its curse. The only descendants the man had at the school were Astrit and his sister.  
  
...and Virgil knew nothing of Astrit's sister until the end of the school year, Virgil realized. He met Astrit earlier on. Not to mention Astrit was younger. A thirteen year old would be less able to put up a fight against a seasoned wizard than a seventeen year old would,  _regardless_  of the vessel's age. Just because Virgil himself was sixteen at the time did not mean that the much older wizard possessing him would lose his knowledge of advanced, darker magic.   
  
_"We did still hear prophecies concerning Deceit last year,"_  Logan observed.  _"The ones alluding to innocent blood shed, and the cursed students."_  
  
_"Were they, though?"_  Paige questioned.  _"Innocent blood shed could have been referring to the students who were cursed, but it could have also been referring to Astrit."_  
  
Astrit shuddered at this. Era noticed and immediately put her arm around his shoulder.  
  
_"Could have been both?"_  Patton suggested somewhat hesitantly.  
  
Virgil let out a sigh. "I was hoping this discussion would provide me with more answers...instead it's left me with more questions." That was the frustrating thing about prophecies, he realized - which also coincided with his frustration concerning Divination. Prophecies were an inexact science, and Virgil was hoping they'd learn more about interpretation of prophecies in Divination. Instead, they hardly touched on the subject and merely utilized tools that might have  _seemed_ more exact, but were not as accurate.  
  
_"Perhaps we are not meant to understand the true meaning of every prophecy, but are merely meant to use it as a starting ground, a warning of sorts. We do, after all, perform better against adversity when we are well prepared for it,"_  Logan stated.  
  
"How are we supposed to prepare for something when we don't know what to prepare for?" Virgil snarled in exasperation Logan looked taken aback. Virgil instantly felt guilty. He knew Logan was only trying to help, and it wasn't exactly fair that he was taking his frustrations out on his friends.  
  
_"I guess it comes down to...having to accept that you can't always perfectly predict the future?"_ Patton added quietly.  _"You can try all you want, and I'm not saying you shouldn't try to prevent something bad from happening if you have warning that it will, but...you can't live like that all the time? Constantly looking around the corner to see what might be coming next? That's hardly a way to live..."_    
  
Virgil crossed his arms and held them tightly around himself. "But I...I have to go. Class is gonna be starting soon."   
  
Virgil dashed off. As he ran, though, he still overheard a few tidbits of his friends' conversation.  
  
_"Class doesn't even start for another fifteen minutes!"_  Roman muttered.  _"Where is headed to in such a hurry? And people call me a drama king!"_  
  
_"You are a drama king,"_  Logan told him. Virgil could practically hear the eye roll in Logan's voice.  
  
_"Leave him be. I think he just needs some time to himself,"_  Era hissed at them.  
  
Virgil waited until he was a few corridors away before he threw his back against a wall and clutched his arms tighter around himself. He breathed in for four seconds, held his breath for seven seconds, then exhaled for eight seconds, trying to calm the tremors that threatened to spread from his hands throughout his entire being. He knew that he couldn't always predict the future, he  _knew_  that he couldn't always prevent bad things from happening...but that didn't stop him from wishing to do so. Mere words of comfort could not fix this pervasive feeling that he wasn't doing as much as he should, that if he couldn't figure out what his prophecies meant he was dooming his friends and family to their fates.   
  
It wasn't logical. He knew this. He knew that he shouldn't cling on to these thoughts and insecurities, but _he couldn't help it_. Knowing was only half the battle when the feelings persisted nevertheless.


	24. Chapter 24

December came at Hogwarts, and with it the first snow of the season. It was not anything too extreme, but it was enough that some students were getting downright giddy at the sight.  
  
Though perhaps that was just the realization that the holidays were coming upon them and the term would be ending soon.

Virgil himself had mixed feelings on the matter. He was relieved that term would be ending soon, but the end of term happened to fall  _directly on his birthday_. Given his feelings concerning his impending adulthood? It was really no wonder that Virgil felt apprehension at the prospect of it looming closer and closer as each day passed.  
  
The sign-up sheet that appeared outside of the Great Hall in the second week of the month did not help matters. Sign-ups for apparition, something that only students who were already 17 or approaching 17 could sign-up for. He watched as Logan, Patton, and Era eagerly signed up. He watched as Paige and Roman hung back with frowns, as their birthdays fell later in the school year and thus they would have to attend a different session.   
  
Virgil had more reason for his misgivings than just his impending adulthood, however.  
  
"Can't apparition be dangerous? I've heard a lot of things can go wrong if you don't do it right. People have wound up  _killed_  from apparition gone wrong," Virgil muttered as Patton tried to convince him to sign-up with them.  
  
_"Really? You can actually sign up for this class and you're going to fore-go it just because of some vague possibility that it could all go wrong? Why did you have to wind up with an earlier birthday than mine?"_  
  
Virgil flinched. He realized that Roman's comments were borne of a place of jealousy, that he wished that he were eligible to sign up for the first round of Apparition classes, but...ugh, hadn't any of them heard of Splinching?  
  
_"Virgil, I will not do a disservice to you and pretend that Splinching is not a risk associated with Apparition. In fact, we are likely to see several Splinchings throughout the course of our lessons."_  
  
Virgil's eyes widened. Era arched an eyebrow.  _"I hope you plan on saying more than that, Logan, because I'm starting to consider crossing my own name off the list."_  
  
_"Come on, where is your spirit of adventure!"_  Roman exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation.  
  
_"We are likely to see several Splinchings, yes, but this is a course taught at Hogwarts year after year...and yet we have heard no reports of deaths from Splinchings within Hogwarts walls. Rest assured, I feel that if there were such incidents, the entire wizarding world would have heard of them. Clearly, even though the risk of Splinching remains high, there are several highly trained adults in the area who can easily step in if something goes awry,"_  Logan continued, most of his focus on Virgil, but he did occasionally glance in Era's direction as he heard her expressions of slight doubt as well.  
  
_"See? There's nothing to worry about!"_  Patton added happily.  
  
_"On the contrary Patton, there is certainly something to worry about. I never said that there wasn't. I merely stated that in the event that something inevitably does go amiss during this class, the professors are highly prepared to step in and remedy it before it evolves into anything particularly dangerous or life-threatening,"_  Logan clarified.  
  
"I..." Virgil hesitated. He couldn't pretend that he wasn't curious as to what this class was all about. In addition, Apparition was a skill that could very much come in handy. Perhaps not while they stood on Hogwarts grounds, but outside of Hogwarts. How many times had Virgil wished over the years that he could sink into the floor, that he could escape a potentially embarrassing or worse,  _dangerous_  situation by disappearing?  
  
By learning Apparition, he could  _literally do just that_.   
  
He thought back to the Forbidden Forest the year before. Astrit's protests that Virgil ought to get out of the Forbidden Forest and away from Astrit before  _he_  returned. Admittedly, Virgil was possessed by the very 'he' that Astrit referred to at the time, hence Astrit's concern, but...if Virgil were able to Apparate, would he have been able to bring Astrit back to the castle and get the boy help before everything devolved as fast as it did?  
  
...did the Forbidden Forest have the same Anti-Apparition charms on it that the rest of Hogwarts did?  
  
He was getting off track.  
  
The fact of the matter was, there were heavy  _advantages_  to learning Apparition. There were risks, yes, but...as Logan pointed out, Hogwarts partook in a heavy amount of risk assessment and thus risk management. Virgil rubbed his teeth against his bottom lip, not quite chewing on it but playing with his lip beneath his teeth.   
  
He snatched the pen from Patton's hand and jotted his name down before his courage could falter.  
  
_"There! That wasn't so bad, was it?"_  Patton smiled encouragingly.  
  
He could only hope that Patton was correct in his assessment.  
  
\--------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Virgil was in his dorm getting his books ready for class. There was one thing he was grateful about when it came to the end of term - He'd get a much needed break from his classes. Older students weren't lying in the past when they said that NEWT classes took a lot out of someone. He might have been able to drop a couple of classes that he didn't perform particularly well in or wasn't as interested in, but the classes that he still took more than made up for it.  
  
And he'd be adding more to that at the start of next term when he started Apparition. Why did he ever let Logan talk him into it?  
  
Virgil ran a hand through his hair as he picked up one of his books, frowning as a piece of paper slipped out of it. He frowned and went to pick it up at once, glancing at it. He was fairly certain it wasn't one of his notes, so where had it come from?  
  
The minute he opened up the paper, he wished he hadn't. It was a note was addressed to him, in a scrawl that Virgil did not recognize.  
  
_Virgil,_  
  
_I know all of your secrets._  
  
Lovely - An added source of stress. Just what he needed before the holiday.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning, the beginning of the chapter is a bit...intense and involves character death?

Virgil waited outside the Headmistress' office. Once again she'd sent Elliott to fetch him. Was his mother alright? Was she in St. Mungo's again? This time he was alone in his wait. This time he did not have Patton and Paige to accompany him, to distract him from thinking the worst as the Headmistress opened the door to her office and gestured for him to step inside.  
  
 _"Virgil Thompson, I trust you know what this is about,"_  the Headmistress told him.  
  
"...no?"   
  
The Headmistress let out a sigh, rubbing the bridge of her nose between her eyes.  _"You know what, fine. I'll pretend that I believe you. That you believe that I honestly don't know about what you did last year."_  
  
Virgil glanced up from his lap toward the Headmistress. "What?"  
  
 _"You. You kidnapped Astrit Zhupan. You placed him under the Imperius Curse. You nearly killed him. And now you are tutoring him this year in Defense Against the Dark Arts. What is your plan?"_  
  
Virgil's immediate instinct was to defend himself, but once he saw the fury etched in the Headmistress features he immediately shrunk back, all courage fading. "I...don't have any plan?"  
  
The Headmistress sneered.  _"Of course you do. How dare you put one of my students in danger. Fortunately, poor Astrit will not have to worry for his safety much longer."_  The Headmistress looked behind her and nodded.  
  
Virgil was hesitant to take his eyes off of the Headmistress, afraid that she might try something with his back turned, but he had a sneaking suspicion that were he to not turn around, he would be caught nastily off guard by something far worse.  
  
As he turned, his suspicions were proven to be correct.  
  
A group of Ministry officials strode forward at once. At first he made to move to his feet. A wordless jinx from one of the Ministry officials sent him falling to the ground.  
  
 _"I wouldn't fight back if I were you. You're going to Azkaban. I wouldn't be surprised if they give you to the dementors after what you did."_  
  
"But I...it wasn't me. The necklace. It...I..."  
  
 _"LIES!"_  the Headmistresses' voice was heavily distorted, and Virgil covered his ears.   
  
 _"All lies,"_  the Ministry officials chanted in unison.   
  
 _"How could you do this to me?"_  Astrit's voice cut through the chaos. Virgil turned to look to the boy at once.  
  
The  _transparent_  boy.  
  
"But...you were...we saved you, we took out the dark wizard, we got you help..."  
  
 _"LIES!"_  the boy shouted. His voice, too, was heavily distorted.  
  
 _"You weren't strong enough, you will never be strong enough..."_  the Headmistress leered. Her eyes flashed yellow. A yellow that Virgil recognized.  
  
"Stop...stop! Deceit. Deceit! My...can't you see she's not who she says she is?"  
  
 _"Lies. Lies. Lies. LIES!"_  the Ministry officials continued to chant in unison as they began to drag Virgil away. Virgil kicked, punched, and screamed the whole time.  
  
"Stop! I need to protect my friends! Stop it! Please! Let me go! Let me..."  
  
 _"Ow, Virgil, that was my chest!"_  ...did...why did that Ministry official sound so much like Roman? He punched even harder.  
  
 _"Virgil! Virgil stop!"_  That was Patton. Virgil cracked his eyes open once more. He was no longer being dragged down the hall from the Headmistress' office.   
  
He was in the library, with three concerned friends standing over him. He immediately jumped back, nearly falling out of his chair.  
  
 _"We probably should have given him a little space,"_  Logan remarked, taking a few steps back from Virgil.  
  
Virgil was gasping, trying to catch his breath as his eyes darted around the room. "I...I was...I..."  
  
 _"You had a nightmare, Virge,"_  Patton told him softly.  
  
A nightmare. That's right. That was all that was, a nightmare. Virgil ran a hand through his hair, letting out a shaky sigh.  
  
Much of what happened next was a blur. Roman and Patton fussed over him, trying to make sure that he was okay. Logan trying to talk him through a breathing exercise so that he could calm down to the point where he could actually focus on what was happening around him and carry on a proper conversation.  
  
 _"You really ought to get more sleep,"_  Logan told him once his breathing was somewhat regular.  
  
"Sure Lo, let me get on that, right after I find my brother and convince him to give up his life of crime and take up yoga instead," Virgil commented sardonically.  
  
 _"That's...that's a mental picture if I ever saw one,"_  Roman blinked a few times, as if startled by the picture that appeared within his mind's eye.  
  
 _"I mean it though, you might not have as many nightmares with a better night's sleep,"_  Logan informed him.  
  
"Oh fine,  _mom_ ," Virgil rolled his eyes.  
  
Logan was probably right. Virgil was taking even worse care of himself than usual after receiving that note. To be fair, it wasn't just the note - It was also the upcoming end of term exams, plus the usual stress that the holidays brought. No wonder he was having nightmares like that. Not that his nightmares ever completely  _stopped_  after their experience at the end of the prior school year, and he was far from the only one who experienced them. There was no denying that the receipt of a note proclaiming to know his secrets sent the nightmares into a frenzy they hadn't reached since...well, since last June.  
  
Not to mention his birthday was in just a few short days, and though he  _told_  his friends that they didn't have to do anything, he knew his friends well enough to know that something was likely in the works. Hopefully nothing huge, though. He didn't do well with huge parties. He didn't even have enough friends or acquaintances to invite to a huge party.  
  
Patton and Roman said their goodbyes before long, needing to do a bit of packing before heading to dinner. Virgil and Logan walked down the hall hand in hand. Virgil did not particularly want to let go of Logan, not when Logan provided him with so much comfort after a nightmare that delved into many of his deepest, darkest fears.  
  
It was as if a dementor and boggart mated and decided to deposit their offspring into his subconscious. When he told Logan as much, the expression on Logan's face worked almost as good as a Ridikkulus or Patronus Charm.   
  
 _"I just...why would a dementor and a boggart...I am flabbergasted..."_  
  
Virgil was hardly able to speak, a side effect of laughing so hard. "It's a figure of speech, Logan."  
  
 _"I have never heard this figure of speech in my life and do not wish to hear it again!"_    
  
Virgil chuckled, finally able to regain some of his composure, though a few chortles still escaped him.  
  
Logan cleared his throat and let out a huff.  _"Well, I was going to wait to tell you this until your birthday, but I suppose it would not hurt to mention it now. Think of it as an early birthday present of sorts. Your mother...your mother sent me an invitation, via owl."_  
  
Virgil stared at Logan uncomprehendingly.  
  
 _"An invitation to your aunt and uncle's house for Christmas. She thought it would make a nice surprise for your birthday, to invite me to spend Christmas with you and your fam-"_  
  
Logan did not have a chance to finish as Virgil threw his arms around him at once. "That sounds great, Logan." Their lips met and even after they pulled apart, the two remained locked in their embrace.  
  
"Logan...be honest. What do you think the writer of the note meant when they said they knew my secrets?" Virgil said at last. Despite the good news, the note he'd received still weighed on him. And how could it not?  
  
Logan frowned.  _"I'm not certain Virgil. That could have meant a lot of things, an allusion to your Sight or what happened in the Forbidden Forest at the end of last year, but I do feel that if it were something serious, something that might land you in trouble, the writer of the note would have brought it to your attention a lot sooner. I don't believe that you, or I, or anyone else that we know or care about is in immediate danger."_  
  
"...thanks Logan. I just wish I could believe that as easily as you do," Virgil sighed and the two headed down the corridor toward the Great Hall, unaware of the figure in the shadows watching their every move.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> KokoScripsit is the one who suggested the (in my personal opinion amazing) gift that Era gave to Virgil. So big thanks to her/him for helping out on that front!

Virgil awoke one morning with an odd weight at the end of his bed, one that he felt shift as he stretched out his legs.  
  
He sat up at the bizarre sensation, reaching for the end of his bed. His fingers brushed up against a small box, which he grabbed and pulled into his lap.  
  
It was addressed from his mother to him, and with that it finally sunk in what day it was and what that meant.  
  
December 19th. His 17th birthday. The day he and Logan would be traveling to stay with his mother and his mother's family for the holidays. What he had in his hand was his birthday gift from his mother, along with a letter attached.  
  
A note at the top of the letter told him to open the box first, and that was what he did. Inside the box he spotted an expensive looking watch. Virgil slipped it on, then opened the envelope containing the letter and proceeded to read it.  
  
_Happy birthday, Virgil!  
  
You may be wondering about the watch. As you know, it is a common tradition for a wizard to receive a watch for his 17th birthday. I did not want you to miss out on this tradition. I hope you enjoy it, it is an old family heirloom that used to belong to my grandfather.  
  
This is not my only gift for you. I could have told you sooner, but I did not wish to spoil the surprise.  
  
I have invited Logan to spend Christmas with us! I told your aunt and uncle about him and they are both eager to meet him!  
  
I hope you have a wonderful birthday, and I will see you soon, my little storm cloud.  
  
-Mother_  
  
Virgil let out a laugh. Logan might have already given away the surprise, but Virgil still enjoyed reading it nevertheless.   
  
He crept out of the Slytherin dormitory with his trunk. He looked to Elliott, who gave him a short wave.  _"Happy birthday."_  Elliott did not have their trunk with them, leading Virgil to believe that they would he staying at Hogwarts.  
  
This didn't particularly surprise Virgil. Elliott got along with their family about as well as Virgil got along with his father and brother, with the exception of their sister. And he was fairly certain that he overheard Elliott mention that their sister would be going on a trip over the holiday.  
  
Honestly, were it not for his mother, Virgil himself likely would have opted not to return home in years past for the holiday break. This was honestly the first year that he actually looked forward to it, and it wasn't  _just_  because he'd be spending the holiday with his boyfriend (...though that certainly sweetened the deal).

Virgil was headed partially down the corridor from the Slytherin Common Room when Shane passed him in the hall. He took one glimpse at Virgil dragging his trunk behind him and frowned.  _"Hey, when you come back from holiday I wanna talk."_  
  
Virgil's stomach lurched. "I have time to talk now if you have..."  
  
_"Happy birthday Virgil! Come on, let's head to the train so we can all get a compartment together!"_  Patton's voice boomed through the corridor. Virgil waved to Patton then turned back to Shane, only to find that Shane continued on his way and was now at the other end of the hall.   
  
...looked like he'd be waiting until after the new year after all, much to Virgil's chagrin.

None of Virgil's friends were staying at Hogwarts, much to his surprise. Era and Astrit were chattering excitedly about their plans for the holiday. Despite not celebrating Christmas, their family was using their time off of school to go on a family trip.  
  
Paige was talking to Patton about her younger sister, while Patton discussed how he always helped to set up the holiday for his five younger siblings.  
  
He was surprised to find that Roman, ever the talker, remained uncomfortably silent about his plans for the holiday.

 _"Must be nice to look forward to Christmas away from Hogwarts for a change,"_  Roman muttered, just loud enough for Virgil to hear.  
  
He sounded bitter, which caught Virgil off guard. What did Roman have to be bitter about? Why his family...  
  
Virgil knew next to  _nothing_  about Roman's family. For all the talking that Roman did, he rarely mentioned...well,  _anything_  concerning his family.

"Roman, do you..." Before Virgil could continue, he heard Era saying his name.

_"Virgil! Why don't you open your gifts? We're all together for the last time before the new year, we may as well do it now,"_  she smiled.

He looked back to Roman, who had a pleased smile on his face.  _"Yes, let's! You should open mine first!"_

Virgil arched an eyebrow. It was as if the sulky Roman he saw less than a moment before vanished into thin air. Roman was positively beaming.

_Faker,_  Virgil thought to himself, but knew better than to call Roman out about something like  _that_ in front of everyone.

"Should I be worried?" Virgil arched an eyebrow.

_"Firstly, you're always worried. Secondly, what do you take me for, a villain?"_  Roman held the back of his hand to his forehead and glanced skyward in an overdramatic show of...something. 

It was amusing at least?

Undoing it, he noted that it was a palate of purple makeup.  _"I know you usually stick to dark colors but I was thinking maybe you could add a little extra color, and a little birdie told me that your favorite color was purple..."_

"Was the little birdie's name Patton by any chance?" Virgil cast a glance Patton's way.

Patton smiled mischievously.  _"Maaaaaaaaybe."_

The next gift was lumpy and bore Patton's name. Virgil undid the wrapping, grinning when he saw that Patton bought him a black cat plushie that bore a striking resemblance to Storm.

Paige's gift was next, a warm, weighted blanket. Astrit's gift was a book about Defense Against the Dark Arts. Era, meanwhile, gifted him a black cloak that had various symbols embroidered on them in almost imperceptible purple. Era shifted nervously in her seat.

_"They're symbols of protection and good fortune. My grandmother taught me about them."_

Virgil ran his hand over one of the symbols and shot a small smile at Era. "Thanks."

The others looked to Logan, who presented Virgil with his last gift, wrapped neatly. Virgil unwrapped it at once, giving it a once over. It looked like a glass top.

_"Its a sneakoscope,"_  Logan explained, as if sensing Virgil's confusion.  _"It sends off a signal if someone nearby is doing something untrustworthy. I'm still not certain of the exact mechanisms behind it, but..."_

"Thanks, Logan," Virgil smiled before Logan could go any farther, having heard enough to have a good idea of the functionality of the gift - and why Logan would see it as all too fitting one. He could feel his cheeks starting to heat up at all of the positive attention directed toward him and tried to hide it by looking out the window. 

_"Happy birthday, kiddo,"_ he heard Patton say as he felt Logan squeeze his hand.

It wouldn't be long before their arrival at the King's Cross Station, and for once he was looking forward to a holiday away from Hogwarts


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel I should note that some elements of Roman's history are based off of headcanons my friend Sam (talia23williams on tumblr) had for her Roman in the HP universe. Not that I will go into great detail on that just yet, but...

Virgil and Logan were greeted by Renilda as they stepped off of the train. They said their quick goodbyes to their friends and promised to send owls if they needed to contact one another during the two week break from schooling, then greeted their families.  
  
Patton's family was easiest to spot. Patton's mother had a kind face and his father had a jovial smile. In addition to Patton, Toby, Seth, and Augustine, there were two younger girls that Virgil presumed to be Mabel and Juniper. The older of the two girls was chattering eagerly with Seth and Augustine, while the younger was yanking on her mother's pant leg in an attempt to get her attention.  
  
Era and Astrit's family was much smaller. They were greeted by a man and a woman, presumably their father and Astrit's mother, but the way they gazed at Era and Astrit showed that they were full of love.  
  
Paige and her sister were greeted by only their mother, similar to how Virgil and Logan were greeted by Renilda.  
  
Roman, though...Virgil frowned upon seeing Roman. He looked as if he wished to be anywhere but where he stood. Something seemed almost familiar about the way Roman stood alongside his mother, father, and two brothers, but it didn't occur to him until they were almost ready to leave.  
  
Roman reminded him of  _himself_  in just about every family portrait he'd featured in.

Out of all of his friends, Roman was always the one that he related to the least. Patton was his friend for the longest and other than Logan was probably the one he felt the most comfortable around. Logan, of course, was his boyfriend. He could relate to Era because of their unique experiences as Seers. Roman...Roman's life always seemed as far from Virgil's as one could get. Virgil was an introvert while Roman was an extrovert. Roman had his reputation as a loquacious Gryffindor while Virgil was a Slytherin primarily kept to the small group of friends they'd fostered over the past couple of years. They frequently butted heads, even though they were unquestionably friends by this point.  
  
Virgil remained lost in thought for much of the journey back to his aunt and uncle's house. Had he judged Roman wrong? On the one hand, he would  _hate_  for Roman to have a family life like his, to have family members with similar behavior and stances to his brother and father. On the other...it felt oddly comforting that someone might be able to relate?  
  
_"Roman didn't seem very happy with his family,"_  Logan mused out loud, pulling Virgil from his own thoughts and leading him to realize that he wasn't the only one who observed Roman's subdued behavior.  
  
"He didn't," Virgil agreed. "I wonder why?" 'Wonder' was putting it lightly. Virgil's mind could be incredibly inventive when it came to the macabre, and in this particular instance it was dreaming up all sorts of terrible scenarios that Roman might be living through. He felt guilty for this, and also a tad uncomfortable. While some of the scenarios he dreamed of were pure imagination, some were based on his own experiences with Lionel and his father.  
  
He suddenly recalled an offhand comment from the year before, one that struck Virgil as odd when Roman first made it but was quickly tossed away as inconsequential in light of everything else that was happening at that point in time, with Astrit's disappearance and the cursings.  
  
He knew what Borgin and Burkes was because Virgil's family wasn't the  _only one interested in the Dark Arts_.  
  
It wouldn't surprise Virgil in the least to learn that Roman's pureblood family had an interest in the Dark Arts, given some families' stubborn and sometimes  _outright dangerous_  views concerning pureblood supremacy. And given the way that Roman's father cast a look of disgust in the direction of Patton's clearly Muggle parents at least once? Virgil would be willing to bet his favorite hoodie that at least  _one_  member of Roman's family fell into that category.  
  
"I'm sorry I didn't listen sooner, Roman," Virgil muttered to himself under his breath. He'd have to have a talk with Roman once they arrived back at Hogwarts.   
  
Roman wasn't the only one he'd have to talk to. His mind kept circling back to Shane confronting him in the hallway, telling him that they needed to talk. Again, his mind went through all sorts of scenarios. What did Shane want to talk to him about? Shane had a serious expression on his face when he approached Virgil  _and_  indicated that it was something important enough that they should talk about it after they returned from break. That was enough to make it so that thoughts and concerns about what Shane might wish to speak with him about cropped up at the most inopportune times, making Virgil want to rip his hair out.  
  
That being said, introducing Logan to his family went well enough.  
  
"This is Uncle Rembrandt, my mother's brother, and this is his wife, my Aunt Helena."  
  
_"It is a pleasure to meet you both,"_  Logan told the two.  
  
_"It's a pleasure to meet you too! Virgil and Renilda have both told us a lot about you,"_  Aunt Helena indicated in a teasing tone.  
  
Virgil could already tell that his face was heated up. His aunt chuckled. Uncle Rembrandt rolled his eyes but chuckled as well.  _"Rem works just as well as Rembrandt if that's too much of a mouthful. Not Remy, though. My son laid claim to that one and refuses to go by anything else."_  
  
_"Your son?"_  Logan questioned.  _"Is he here as well?"_  
  
Uncle Rembrandt shook his head.  _"No, he'll be spending the holiday with his boyfriend's family. His boyfriend is Muggleborn, and he's interested in seeing how Muggles do Christmas."_  
  
_"I must say, it's not all that different from how wizards celebrate it...though I suppose the experience may vary from family to family. I also come from a family of mixed blood, so our Christmases may have an element of both wizard and Muggle traditions."_  Logan mused.  
  
_"Why don't you show Logan your room, Virgil?"_  Renilda called out from across the room. Virgil seized the opportunity to tilt his head slightly in the direction of his room in a bid for Logan to follow him.  
  
As he left, he could hear the unmistakable conversation between his mother and uncle that ensued.  _"Rem, they just had a long journey, I think they would like some time to themselves!"_  
  
His uncle protested.  _"I just wanted to get to know Logan a little better. He seems like a nice boy. Virgil has good tastes, unlike that other awful son of yours..."_  
  
_"Rembrandt Nyx, now is not the time,"_  his mother hissed.  
  
Virgil walked faster. He should have known the subject of Lionel was still a contentious point - but he was bothered by the conversation for another reason. A reason that seemed silly, yet he still could not seem to shake it no matter how hard he tried.

Even now, he was being compared to his brother.


	28. Chapter 28

It was the best Christmas that Virgil experienced in a long time. In fact, he wasn't certain that he'd  _ever_  experienced such a nice Christmas. After all, Deceit was present for every other Christmas that he celebrated, as was his father. In the absence of Virgil's two least favorite family members, Virgil found that he could actually relax (...or come as close as relaxing as possible for Virgil) and enjoy himself.  
  
Remy did wind up stopping by on Christmas Day and spent several minutes conversing with Logan. By the end of their encounter, Logan was staring at Remy's retreating back with a positively befuddled expression.  
  
"Yeah, he has that sort of effect on people," Virgil whispered, snickering.

Virgil began to feel unwell shortly after Christmas dinner. At first he figured his blossoming headache had something to do with Remy. It would not be the first time Remy generated a headache in Virgil. He also wondered if something that he ate disagreed might have disagreed with him, but that excuse didn't work when his stomach was not the part of his body that actually bothered him. He decided that he ought to head to bed early. He and Logan retreated to Virgil's room, Logan leaving for a few moments only to return with two cups of hot cocoa.  
  
_"You said your stomach was not bothering you, correct?"_  Logan asked him as he handed Virgil his cup.   
  
"Yeah, it's my head. Just feeling really out of it..."  
  
Logan immediately paused in the middle of imbibing his own beverage and set his cup on the stand next to his bed.  _"Virgil. I do not wish to worry you, but I believe..."_  
  
"I'm about to give..."  
  
That was it. That was all Virgil had the chance to say before everything faded to black.  
  
\------------------------------  
  
He awoke once more to nearby voices  
  
_"I am not certain how he will respond when he regains consciousness. I have only been personally present for one of his trances. Perhaps you should step out so that I can..."_  
  
"Talking about me behind my back, I see," Virgil mumbled. He slowly opened his eyes to a view of the ceiling. He was laying on his back then. And Logan and Virgil's mother were discussing his condition.

 _"Virgil, are you...well?"_  Logan asked after a moment or so. Virgil glanced over at him and saw that Logan was eyeing him warily.  
  
"I'm better than I was before, if that's what you're asking." He usually did feel better directly after giving a prophecy. It was easier to track his own thoughts - though that also meant that he was painfully aware of what his mother's presence meant.   
  
She knew he'd given a prophecy. So would his aunt and uncle. They likely knew what he  _said_  too. His eyes scanned Logan and his mother for any hint as to what he might have foretold. They did not look as worried as he expected them to, other than their concern for Virgil himself.

 His uncle burst into the room with a tray of food in hand. Virgil jolted slightly.  _"Eat as much as you like, you must be famished!"_

Virgil blinked at him in confusion. "We just had dinner an hour ago..."

_"Yes, but you just gave a prophecy! That had to take a lot of your energy!"_

Aunt Helena rolled her eyes and took the tray from her husband's hands. __"Don't mind him, I told him it didn't work that way but he was eager to help out any way that he could."__

__"I could eat one of those rolls so that the food does not go to waste?"_  _Logan offered.

__"That's alright, it was leftovers from dinner anyway. We can store it again,"_  _Aunt Helena reassured him.

Uncle Rembrandt and Aunt Helena left the room with the tray, presumably to finish cleaning up after dinner. Virgil glanced at his mother and boyfriend. _"_ Alright, what did I say?" He could have asked in front of his uncle and aunt, but figured that might have been too much for him to take at the moment.He was still disoriented, and he wasn't sure how much of the prophecy his aunt and uncle actually overheard - Especially if they were in the kitchen or dining area at the time he slipped into his trance.

  _"Do they not know of your gift?"_ Logan inquired.  _"I was under the impression that your family was aware..."_

 "Oh, they know. The first prophecy I gave? Uncle Rembrandt ended up gravely injured in a duel soon afterward. We..."

  _"We?_ _"_ Renilda remarked with a smirk.

 "Alright, my  _mother and father_ figured out that my first prophecy was probably about the duel that landed my uncle in St. Mungo's. So yeah, they definitely know."

 Logan nodded, appearing to be considering this for a moment. Virgil decided that it was time to reorient the conversation. "Again, what did I say? Or are you avoiding the subject on purpose?"

 Logan and Renilda exchanged glances.  _"Snakes shed their skin as lie in wait in the grass. More will suffer before they are found. When all hope seems lost, the dragon witch will turn the tide, but be wary - those who dawdle may drown in the depths."_

 Virgil blinked. "I...what?"

  _"Once again we return to the subject of snakes..."_

 "Yeah, yeah, I got that far. That's probably Deceit and my father. I'm not surprised they'll make more people suffer. What I'm wondering about is this so-called 'dragon witch'. Who is she supposed to be?"

  _"I'm not certain. I'm not certain that we will know until the time comes and she makes herself known, though we can certainly keep our eyes peeled. I do love a good mystery."_

 "I like a good mystery when it doesn't sound like another death proclamation that  _I_ made," Virgil ran a hand through his hair.

  _"I don't know, it doesn't really predict death, just suffering,"_ Renilda pointed out.

 "...thanks mom, that makes me feel so much better," Virgil muttered.

_"The end of the prophecy does mention that those who dawdle may drown in the depths, that could be considered a death proclamation..."_ Logan added.

"Logan!"

_"What? I'm just stating a fact."_

Virgil threw his spare pillow at Logan. After the night they had, Virgil and Logan opted to retire to bed early. With all that was on his mind it took Virgil a while to fall asleep, and as he felt the heat of the sun on his face from the open blinds the next morning, he could not help but feel that the night passed  _way_ too quickly.

"W _e have an owl,"_ Logan addressed Virgil as Virgil sat up slowly, rubbing at his eyes with his hands.  

"That's nice. Why does this owl think that..." he squinted over at the clock, vision still slightly blurry from sleep, "7:30am is a good time to drop by with a letter? Tell it to come back later." 

_"It's from Astrit,_ _"_ Logan explained and began to open the envelope.

"Probably a postcard or picture from wherever they're visiting," Virgil told Logan, about to lay back down and try to get a couple more hours of sleep. 

_"Virgil,"_ Virgil glanced blearily over at Logan as the latter said his name. 

 "What is it?"

  _"It's not a postcard or a photograph. It's a letter, informing us that Era slipped into a trance last night and made a prophecy."_


	29. Chapter 29

"What did you just say?" Virgil sat up at once, leaning closer to Logan. He couldn't have possibly heard what he thought he heard.  
  
 _"Era made a prophecy last night as well, it would appear."_  
  
"Did Astrit mention what she said?"   
  
Logan furrowed his brow and began to read aloud for Virgil's benefit.  _"Snakes shed their skin as lie in wait in the grass. More will..."_  Logan trailed off.  _"It's the exact same. Word for word."_  
  
"Is that...she gave the prophecy last night and it was the  _exact same one that I gave_?"  
  
 _"A succinct summary of the situation as a whole, yes,"_  Logan replied.  
  
"Is that even  _possible_?" Virgil blurted out, utterly flabbergasted.  
  
 _"Clearly it is. It just occured,"_  Logan remarked with a wry grin.  
  
Virgil rolled his eyes, though Logan's teasing brought a hint of a smile to his face. "You know what I mean. It obviously happened, but..." He rubbed underneath his nose, trying to think of how he wished to state his next inquiry.  
  
 _"You wish to know if this is something that has occurred before? I do as well. I plan on doing some research into the subject when I can spare the time. I suspect it to be a rare phenomenon at the very least."_  
  
Virgil swallowed, wondering how Era felt at that moment. Was she having a similar discussion with Astrit?  
  
...she couldn't. They had yet to inform Era and Astrit of Virgil's prophecy. That did not mean that they were not postulating on the prophecy and its contents.

 _"We should probably inform the others of your prophecy. I can send an owl to one of my friends using my owl, do you think your family would be willing to let us use their owl or owls?"_  
  
Virgil nodded. "My mother doesn't use hers much, and I'm sure my aunt and uncle would be willing to let us borrow theirs as well considering the situation."  
  
Thus it was settled - Logan's owl would go to Roman, Renilda's to Era and Astrit, and Uncle Rembrandt and Aunt Helena's to Patton. Patton or Era could then call Paige, as all three had access to phones.  
  
"Now we wait," Virgil declared.

Their friends did get back to them, though there was little to be said until they could meet again as a group upon their return to Hogwarts.  
  
The rest of the holiday flew by at any rate. It was soon New Years Eve. They were joined once more by Remy, who brought his boyfriend with him to this celebration. He was a bright, friendly man by the name of Apollo who was easy enough to get along with.  
  
Virgil and Logan were doing some stargazing, Logan pointing out various constellations and asterisms visible in the night sky in late December. Virgil was particularly enraptured by the fact that Logan seemed to know all of this from memory.  
  
"You're gonna make a great Astronomer some day, Lo," Virgil told him.   
  
Logan's smile fell slightly, and Virgil felt a lurch in his chest. Did he screw up?  
  
 _"Thank you, Virgil. I appreciate that. But..."_  But what?  
  
 _"Astronomy is only one career path that I have considered. I have always been fascinated by Potions as well, and I have entertained a career as a Potioneer. That being said, I know that most assume that I will pursue a career in Astronomy, and while it is a hobby of mine that I feel particularly keen toward? I do not see it being as fruitful an option for a full career."_  
  
...oh. Virgil chewed on his lip. He was among those who always assumed that Logan would wish to pursue Astronomy and hadn't even considered any other option for him.  
  
Which would be one thing if Virgil and Logan were just casual friends, but they were  _boyfriends_. Shouldn't a boyfriend know that sort of thing?

"I shouldn't have assumed..."  
  
Logan smiled.  _"You weren't wrong. Astronomy is a career I've considered. It just isn't the only one. I've never mentioned my Potioneer aspirations to you prior to this point, so why would you know? On that note, have you put any consideration into your own plans after Hogwarts?"_  When Logan put it that way, Virgil felt marginally better...then Logan  _had_  to ask about Virgil's plans for the future.  
  
Or lack thereof, in this instance.  
  
"I'm not sure. I haven't really figured anything out yet," Virgil responded.  
  
 _"Might I suggest something in the field of Defense Against the Dark Arts?"_  Logan was grinning at this.  _"I don't know if you've noticed this, but you're quite the talent in the subject."_  
  
Virgil shrugged awkwardly, trying to disguise the smile threatening to spread across his entire face. That being said, the only career that Virgil could think of off of the top of his head that utilized Defense Against the Dark Arts extensively was an Auror, and Virgil did not see himself as an Auror. For one, he didn't quite have the grades in some of the  _other_ subjects necessary for the pursuit of that particular career path. Besides, did he even want to work for the Ministry? They were without a doubt the largest employer of wizards in the country, but there were plenty of other jobs out there. Why should a job at the Ministry be considered a gold standard?  
  
 _"Yo, sweethearts! It's almost midnight! Time to quit making out under the stars and come join us inside!"_  Remy snapped his fingers several times then waved them over.  
  
Virgil and Logan exchanged glances, rolled their eyes almost simultaneously, then headed back inside.  
  
Sure enough, the time on the grandfather clock near the door indicated that they were minutes from midnight.  
  
All in all, one of Virgil's better New Years. Especially upon seeing Logan's response to witnessing Remy and Apollo's New Year's kiss once midnight finally rang out.  
  
He turned  _beet red_.  _"I, uh, it appears that it is a time honored tradition that when a couple is together at midnight on New Years Day they are supposed to..."_  
  
Virgil burst out laughing. "Logan, just shut up and kiss me already." He brought his lips to Logan's, and the two shared a tender kiss just as the last of the New Year cheers died off.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, some bits of Roman's past in this were inspired by @talia23williams on tumblr and how she has portrayed her Roman in rps in the past. ^^

The arrival of the new year meant the arrival of the next term. Virgil tried to find Shane when he arrived back at the Slytherin dorm, but Shane was nowhere to be found.   
  
Virgil would have to dwell on what Shane had to tell him for a little while longer, much to Virgil's chagrin.   
  
His next goal was to hunt down his friends and check up on them. He didn't have to wait long to find Patton, who was waiting outside of the Slytherin Common Room alongside Roman.  
  
_"Virgil! I hope you had a great holiday! Other than the pro-"_  
  
_"...blem with your brother. Am I right?"_  Roman interrupted Patton in the middle of his greeting.  
  
Patton at least had the sense to throw his hands over his mouth when he realized that he'd nearly blurted out that Virgil had given a prophecy over the holiday.

"I did. Lot better without my brother and father around," Virgil admitted. Their absence was a large part of the reason why this ranked as one of Virgil's best Christmases (and New Years too, for that matter). Logan's presence played another part, as did the experience of getting to know his maternal family better. If he did see extended family on holidays in the past, it was usually his father's side of the family.  
  
And his father's side of the family? Prejudice at the level his father and brother displayed didn't usually surface out of nowhere. It passed down from generation to generation, a family heirloom of the worst sort.  
  
And it was a truly  _insidious_  kind that they kept locked up in their best safes until they were around their friends and family. Linus Thompson was a respected Ministry official until recently, after all. Virgil was certain that there were still many within the Ministry who respected his father even with this scandal.  
  
_"Well I'm gonna go check on my brothers real quick to make sure they're unpacking okay. Just wanted to say hi to you guys!"_  Patton enveloped Virgil in a bear hug before throwing his arms around Roman and giving him a peck on the lips.  
  
As Patton left for the Hufflepuff Common Room, Roman turned to Virgil.  _"That's my cue to le-"_  
  
"Not so fast, Princey."  
  
Roman froze at once.  _"What is it, Jack Smellington?"_  
  
Virgil arched a brow. "Jack Smelling...ugh, nevermind. How many of those do you even have?" He played with the sleeves of his hoodie, having not slipped back into his Slytherin robes just yet. Now that he had Roman's attention, he faltered.  
  
_"Well? What is-"_  
  
"IsawyouwithyourfamilybeforeChristmas," Virgil forced out.  
  
Roman looked at Virgil as if the Slytherin slapped him across the face. 

_"...yes, my family did pick me up from the station, as did most families..."_

"You know what I mean, Roman."

Roman sighed, looking oddly subdued.  _"Like I said, my family is one of those families. I'm sure you understand."_

Virgil nodded. "You know full well I do."

_"Then you probably understand why I don't like to speak of them very much,"_  Roman elaborated.

"I do, but...I guess I never...ugh. You just don't seem like the type of guy who would have a family like  _that_ ", Virgil spit out at last.

Roman let out a snort.  _"As if everyone with a terrible family turns out the same way? Not everyone can be as brave as you."_

"Look, not everyone can be so brave as to go against their...wait, what did you just say?" Virgil couldn't possibly have heard that correctly. There was no way that Roman could have called  _him_ brave. 

_"You faced the problem head on rather than turn your back to it by going into another house and pretending it doesn't exist. Most of my friends don't even know about my home life. Not you guys, not the Pride, not anyone."_

Virgil let out a half choke, half laugh. "At least you had the guts to tell the house to put you somewhere other than Slytherin."

_"Why would I need to tell the hat not to place me into Slytherin? It was not even a consideration of the hat! I admit that the prospect of being sorted into a house other than Slytherin scared me...my oldest brother was a Gryffindor too and he's been cut off from the family for years now,"_ Roman responded.

"Yeah...that's the thing. You were scared but you still did it," Virgil told him. Why couldn't he see?

_"What other option did I have? The hat thought I belonged in Gryffindor, and...it felt nice to see that the hat recognized On was different from my family."_

"You could have told the hat to put you in Slytherin," Virgil muttered.

_"...why would I do that, and what difference would it have made?"_

"A huge difference, considering the Sorting Hat suggested two other houses for me before I told it to put me in Slytherin!" 

Roman stared at Virgil, his mouth gaping open.

"Shut your mouth Princey, you look like a fish."

Roman closed his mouth, but his eyes were still as wide as could be.  _"You asked...I didn't even know you could. What houses did it suggest for you?"_

"First Ravenclaw, then Hufflepuff," Virgil explained. He didn't feel like going into the details of why the hat wished to place him in those houses...or how he often wished he'd  _listened_  to the hat.

_"Huh,"_  Roman stated, the picture of eloquence.

"But yeah, I figured Deceit would make my life a living hell if I ended up anywhere other than Slytherin. Turns out he still made my life a living hell, so it wouldn't have made much difference."

_"Sounds a lot like my brothers. Edward is the other Gryffindor but he left Hogwarts before I even started. Louis and Rupert...they're something else,"_ Roman sighed.  

"...did your parents seriously go for a royal theme for your names? With the last name  _Prince_?" Virgil snickered. 

_"Yes, they did. If only I could have left with Edward, but instead he left with his boyfriend and they are still living their whirlwind romance to this date. He didn't even look back..."_ There was a degree of bitterness in Roman's tone, and Virgil could hardly blame him. It would be as if his mother decided she was tired of putting up with his father and brother and left...but did not take Virgil with her.

No wonder Roman spoke the way he did about Virgil's situation before Christmas. Roman wished that he was in a similar situation himself.

"I know it's gonna sound really weird, me saying this, but...look on the bright side. You'll be an adult soon?"

Roman smirked.  _"Oh, I already am looking on the bright side. Virgil Thompson just told me to look on the bright side. This is quality blackmail material."_

"Don't you even  _think_ about it," Virgil bared his teeth and hissed, to Roman's raucous laughter.


	31. Chapter 31

Virgil was seated cross-legged atop his bed, reading the latest book he'd checked out from the library.  
  
A quick meeting with his friends later, and one thing was abundantly clear -  _None_  of them had any idea what a dragon witch was. Nor did they know much about dragons. Virgil and Logan decided that the best way to remedy that was to do some research into the subject. Dragons weren't the only subject Logan desired to research, however; Logan would be researching prophecies as well, to figure out if there were historical records of two Seers giving one prophecy simultaneously.  
  
There was no guarantee that such instances were recorded even if they did occur, of course - Virgil's status as a Seer was unknown to most, and though Era's status was more known, only one of her prophecies were known to any significant number of people.  
  
Thus far, Virgil found no reference to dragon witches in particular, though he was finding all sorts of new information about dragons. He was surprised they hadn't studied the creatures more in depth in Care of Magical Creatures. He supposed that given the large variety of dragons there actually were and how dangerous they could be, they were probably NEWT level creatures - which meant that he and Patton would be studying them in class within the next couple of years.  
  
That wasn't soon enough, though - Not if this prophecy was meant for sooner rather than later.  
  
Virgil's first reaction upon hearing someone enter the dorm was to shift the book in his hands so that his arms were covering the title. He wasn't entirely sure  _why_  that was his reaction - He wasn't reading about Dark Magic this time around, he was only reading about dragons. Still, he was reading about dragons for a reason that he was incredibly secretive about, and didn't feel right showing just anyone what he was reading.  
  
He only tensed up more when he saw that the person who entered the Slytherin dorm was Shane.  
  
"Hey, uh..." Virgil paused, the words dying on his tongue. How did one go about asking someone why they wanted to talk a couple of weeks earlier? Especially when Virgil frequently  _dwelt_  upon the subject before heading to bed at night.  
  
 _"Hey Virgil, how was your vacation?"_  the other boy asked, as if the conversation just before said vacation hadn't even occurred. Virgil's arms curled even tighter around the book that he was reading.  
  
"It was good. Logan came to stay with us," he had to get credit for at least  _trying_  to do small talk, didn't he? Even as his head felt light and funny and his entire body felt oddly shaky.   
  
 _"That's freaking sweet! Just stayed here, dad had to go on a trip and so it didn't seem worth it to go home when he wasn't there,"_  Shane stated casually.  
  
"Yeah, I...I get that. Makes sense," Virgil told the other Slytherin, meanwhile hoping that Shane would either  _get to the point_  or leave, because this was getting way too awkward for his comfort.   
  
 _"Yeah, made it easier to get ahead on some of the work for my classes. Would you believe the amount of work they're giving us for NEWTs? So much for these free periods being free, am I right?"_  Shane grinned.  
  
"Well, it  _is_  NEWTs," Virgil muttered, trying to increase the volume in his voice enough so that Shane would be able to hear it, but not so loud that it might be construed as snapping or yelling.   
  
This was so uncomfortable that Virgil literally felt the tension like a weighted blanket that lay on top of him. And Shane remaining  _blissfully unaware_  of this was the worst part.  
  
 _"Yeah, but I was hoping that when we had free periods they'd actually be free! That's false advertising!"_  Shane declared, striking one of his palms with the fist on his other hand.  
  
Virgil's grip on the book tightened, almost as if he were clutching it for dear life at this point.  _Shut up or get to the point already, I can't deal with this much longer._  "Yeah..."  
  
Shane's smile dropped and he squinted slightly.  _"What are you reading there? Homework for school?"_  
  
Virgil looked down at the book in his hands. Unbeknownst to Shane, the other Slytherin gave him the perfect excuse to use that  _didn't_  mean revealing one of his deepest secrets. "Yeah. It's for Care of Magical Creatures." Shane wasn't in his Care of Magical Creatures class so Virgil could get away with this white lie.   
  
He was tempted to show Shane the book as if to offer proof of what he was saying, but then decided against it. Shane didn't  _need_  to see that the book was about dragons. But at least Virgil would have an excuse if Shane did happen to see the cover of the book. Reading for Care of Magical Creatures. Why hadn't he thought of that before?  
  
Oh, that's right, he was too busy fussing over Shane talking to him  _in general_.  
  
 _"Anyway, remember how I said I wanted to talk to you? I still do. Just not right this second,"_ Shane shrugged.  _"I gotta head to class soon. But we will talk, man, don't you worry about it!"_ Shane finger-gunned in Virgil's direction as he walked off.  
  
"Don't worry. Right," Virgil grumbled. Like  _that_  was possible.  
  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
As expected, Virgil spent most of the rest of the day worrying about why Shane was so adamant about speaking with him. He'd approached Virgil again shortly after dinner, Virgil feeling both apprehensive and somewhat  _relieved_  that he was finally going to get answers...only for Shane to tell him to meet up with him at 7:30pm at the first suit of armor on the third floor.  
  
When Virgil arrived at the place in question, he immediately tucked both of his hands into his pockets and peered around. He was either the first to show up, or he'd gotten the time wrong. Or this was some sort of trap...he didn't think Shane would be the type to play any sort of mean-spirited trick on him, but Virgil  _was_  the younger brother of the guy who attacked him with a cursed object the year before. Perhaps the whole thing was a ploy to get closer to Virgil and to take revenge on him for what Deceit did to him the year before. He couldn't blame Shane for being upset with Deceit, but Virgil had nothing to do with it!  
  
...though he probably could have done more to stop Deceit sooner, so maybe he did deserve some sort of punishment after all...  
  
 _"Hey, sorry to keep you waiting! We were just finishing up one of our homework assignments!"_ Shane's voice cut through his thoughts, and Virgil turned his head in the direction of the voice at once.  
  
...wait,  _we_?  
  
Shane approached the suit of armor, but he wasn't alone. Walking alongside him was  _Elliott_.  
  
...two on one. Virgil wasn't so sure that he liked those odds.


	32. Chapter 32

"Hey," Virgil removed one hand from his pocket and lifted it slightly above his waist, attempting a nonchalant wave in the direction of the other two Slytherins. Shane waved enthusiastically back, Elliott returning a more subdued wave similar to Virgil's.  
  
 _"Glad you could make it. We wanted to talk to you about something,"_  Shane smiled.   
  
"We? I thought just you..."  
  
 _"Well, it was just me at first. Then Elliott and I got to talking over the holidays and I realized that we both wanted to talk to you about the same thing! So I figured we could kill two birds with one stone!"_    
  
...why did he have to mention killing so casually?  
  
And why was he thinking such  _morbid thoughts_? He doubted Shane and Elliott had plans to kill him.  
  
 _"We wanted to talk to you about that strange spell you had a month and a half ago,"_  Elliott informed him.  
  
Oh. In that case, death might be preferable to whatever it was Elliott and Shane planned to say next.  
  
"What about it?" He tried to phrase it as a casual question, but his voice was unsteady. He could hear the cracks in it. He balled the hand that remained enclosed within his pocket into a fist, frustrated with himself.   
  
 _"That voice you spoke in! It reminded me of a demon or something at first, so I thought you were dreaming about being possessed by a demon!"_  Shane explained, unable to keep a note of excitement out of his tone.   
  
Incidentally, Virgil  _did_  have frequent dreams about being possessed. Just...not by a demon. And most of them were distorted versions of actual  _memories_  from the previous year.

 _"You sound awfully excited for someone who thought one of his friends was possessed by a demon,"_  Elliott remarked with a slight smirk on their face.  
  
Wait, did Shane and Elliott consider him a friend? That was...an oddly pleasant surprise.  
  
But now wasn't the time to focus on such a revelation. He had a feeling that Shane had a  _lot_  more to say than just commenting on how his voice sounded when he slipped into his trance.  
  
 _"I realized I'd heard a voice like that before. Shane realized the same thing. See, we were both present during that incident with Era Kastrati in the Entrance Hall in third year,"_  Elliott explained. Virgil could not bring himself to look at them.

It didn't take a clever detective like Logan to figure out why Elliott and Shane were comparing Virgil and Era - especially when he and Era had something very important in common, a common trait that led to their being friends in the first place.   
  
 _"Virgil, are you a..."_  Elliott glanced around, as if they were trying to ascertain whether anyone else was in the vicinity. Virgil felt a rush of appreciation. They might have figured out one of Virgil's deepest secrets, the one that only his close friends were privy to, but at least they cared enough to make sure that no one else was listening in to their conversation.   
  
 _"Are you a Seer?"_  Elliott said at last, and even this was whispered just loudly enough for Virgil and Shane to hear. Virgil doubted that he'd be able to hear a word Elliott just said if he were standing farther than five feet away.

Virgil did have the option of denying it, pretending that Shane and Elliott were mistaken in their assumptions. He could play it off.  
  
He could...but he wasn't going to. Denying his status as a Seer would seem desperate at this point. Shane and Elliott saw what a trance looked like three years ago and could apply that knowledge to what happened to Virgil. He slowly nodded in response to Elliott's question.  
  
Shane clapped his hands together and let out a whoop, startling Virgil.  _"I knew it! That's so cool!"_  
  
Elliott arched an eyebrow.  _"You'd think someone just told him he was going to meet the Minister of Magic..."_  They rolled their eyes.  
  
Elliott, to their credit, seemed to understand the gravity of the situation. Shane was an entirely different story, and Virgil found himself casting a furtive glance to make sure no one entered the nearby area in the time since Elliott last scanned the corridor.  
  
 _"Do you, like, see what's about to happen? Like a picture in your mind?"_  Shane asked eagerly.  
  
Virgil shook his head. "There's a reason they, uh, they call it a trance. We don't see anything because we're not really aware of what we-we're saying."  
  
Virgil shifted in his stance, shuffling his feet as he cast his gaze downward. He always felt uncomfortable talking about this. It was a unique experience that few others ever went through, so he could understand their curiosity. It was just hard to speak about, knowing how people reacted to someone they knew slipping into a trance like that.  
  
It  _scared_  people. It scared  _himself_.  
  
 _"Sorry we didn't catch the earlier part of the prophecy,"_  Elliott told him.  _"I'm sure that probably would have helped."_  
  
Virgil shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. It's not like anything is ever certain with prophecies. I figure it had to do with what happened to my mother, but it might have nothing to do with that at all. Sometimes it takes years for prophecies to come true." There was no given time frame for prophecies - which was a tad unfortunate, as it would certainly making figuring out said prophecies a lot easier.  He found himself wondering if there was a way to learn how to control one's Seeing abilities. This was something he'd have to research himself, as he had a strong feeling Professor Avenir wouldn't know the answer.  
  
He recalled what Era said pertaining to a prophecy Astrit's mother and step-father heard regarding Astrit, something that seemed utterly ridiculous at the time but made sense as time went on.  
  
Even the cursings didn't happen for several weeks after Virgil uttered his first prophecy alluding to them. 

Shane blinked, his entire countenance sobering considerably. The other Slytherin seemed to struggle with himself for a moment or so before finally speaking up.  _"Did you or Era make any prophecies about what happened to me last year? And if so, why didn't you stop it from happening?"_


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings for mentions of extreme pain and blood and near death experiences.

"...what?"  
  
_"Why didn't you and Era stop what happened to me last year?"_  Shane did a good job of hiding it, but Virgil could hear the unsteadiness in the other Slytherin's tone. There was a certain far away look in Shane's eyes as well. Virgil could guess with a fair amount of confidence that Shane was reliving what happened to him the year before when he was cursed, and an involuntary shiver went through Virgil as well.   
  
_"I don't think prophecies work that way..."_  Elliott mumbled.  
  
Shane turned to Virgil with an almost accusatory glance and arched an eyebrow as if to say 'well?'.  
  
"Elliott's right, we don't get specifics. You remember how I said something about snakes and mice?"[/i]  
  
Elliott nodded. Shane still looked skeptical.  
  
"Most prophecies are like that. They don't outright state what is going to happen. They're usually cryptic, like 'darkness will befall Hogwarts and innocent blood will be shed'. Something that doesn't give much information away, but gives you just enough info that you'll be on guard."  
  
He wished he could have done more to help Shane ahead of time. But Shane wasn't a typical target. Shane was a pureblood. Virgil figured that Deceit cursed Shane in an attempt to throw the suspicion off Slytherin house and he supposed it did work for a short time.  
  
However, it also meant that Virgil wasn't looking as closely for signs of danger in members of his own house. Thankfully Storm drew his attention to Shane so that he could seek help immediately.  
  
Shane let out a sigh, seeming to relax considerably. This put Virgil more at ease as well.  _"Sorry man, it's just...never touch a cursed object. It's way too much trouble."_    
  
Virgil managed a wry grin. "Can't make any promises." Not when he'd already encountered a cursed object and suffered the consequences for it.   
  
That made Virgil wonder. "What  _was_  it like, when you touched that object?"  _'How was your cursed object similar to my cursed object?'_ being the unspoken question, the one Virgil did not dare to ask.

Shane blanched, and Virgil almost regretted asking the question in the first place.  _"Its...intense pain. Never felt anything like that before and I hope I never feel it again. I've never been putting under the Cruciatus Curse but I'm guessing that's what the Cruciatus Curse feels like."_  
  
As horrifying as that sounded, Virgil could not help but note one thing - That sounded  _vastly_ different to Virgil's own experiences with the cursed object he'd come into contact with. Each object had different effects on its victim, which meant that they likely had different curses place upon them.  
  
Virgil could not say for certain, but he had a feeling that Deceit used objects that were already cursed by other individuals rather than ones that he cursed himself.  
  
_"Why do you think Deceit went after me anyway?"_  Shane asked him.  _"I thought he was only targeting those without pure blood. Not that that makes it any better,"_  he was quick to amend himself,  _"but I didn't really think I would be a target at any point."_

"I think it was probably _because_ you were a pureblood, actually," Virgil admitted.  
  
Shane looked as if someone slapped him across the face.  _"But I thought his whole M.O. was..._  
  
"It was. But people were starting to talk about who was responsible at that point. They figured out that it was most likely someone aiming to attack those who weren't of pure blood. By slipping a cursed object to a pureblood, he could cast doubt on those theories and get away with what he was doing even longer. Or at least that's what he was trying to do."  
  
_"He also slipped you an object that put you in severe pain rather than one that could kill you. That Gryffindor girl suffered severe blood loss when she was cursed and could have easily died. The same thing happened with that Hufflepuff,"_  Elliott pointed out to Shane.  
  
"That's assuming Deceit knew what the objects did before he planted them on his victims." That was a horrific thought, not just because of his own experiences with a cursed object but because the original target for said object was  _Patton_.   
  
He suspected that Deceit didn't know what the items would actually do to their victims before he dispersed them. It made his move with Shane a little more risky, but a risk that he'd been willing to take if it threw off suspicion.

The three of them stood in silence, Shane breaking the silence a moment later with,  _"dude, your brother has some serious issues. Why'd you even hang out with him for so long?"_

Leave it to Shane to keep asking all of the hard questions. "It seemed like the right thing to do at the time." It wasn't, of course, but he'd been lead to believe that there were no other options lest his time at Hogwarts be spent utterly alone and miserable.

"You know, you guys could have gone about this in a much better way. Leaving me a note saying you know all of my secrets and then waiting until after break to tell me about it?" That said, he was relieved that it wasn't anything worse. Two...friends? figuring out that he was a Seer? That he could handle...on one condition. "You guys have to make sure you don't tell anyone about this. Logan, Patton, Roman, Paige, Era, and Era's little brother are okay. They already know."

_"You told others before us? I feel so betrayed!"_  Shane shook his head, trying to maintain a serious expression but failing miserably and busting into laughter halfway through the effort.

Elliott, on the other hand, looked utterly confused.  _"You said we left you a note..we didn't leave you a note,"_  they said slowly.

"Then Shane must have," Virgil turned to face Shane.

Shane shook his head at once and held up his hands in mock surrender.  _"Wasn't me."_

Virgil's heart felt as if it skipped a beat. "I...I gotta go. Thanks for the chat, guys," he said, dashing off before the two other Slytherins had a chance to react.


	34. Chapter 34

_"How are your classes going? Is Defense Against the Dark Arts tutoring helping?"_  Era asked Astrit as the two walked down a second floor corridor.  
  
Astrit frowned.  _"It's going well enough. Virgil's not a bad teacher. It'd just be nice if I didn't have to do it at all. I feel like I'm never going to catch up, and it doesn't help that I missed so much work last year,"_  the fourth year mumbled dejectedly, kicking the ground.  
  
 _"You've had a lot on your plate, Astrit. No one can hold that against you,"_  Era told him as they turned a corner.  
  
 _"...I swear, it feels like anxiety has been hanging over my head like a dark cloud recently,"_  Astrit stated.  
  
 _"Oh, we all feel like that sometimes Astrit. Try taking a few deep breaths..."_  
  
Astrit shook his head.  _"No, not that kind of anxiety. That kind of Anxiety,"_  Astrit pointed toward the suits of armor to their side. Era blinked and slowly raised an eyebrow in confusion.  
  
"I was  _trying_  to hide," Virgil's voice came from behind one of the suits. Era yelped and scrambled back a few feet, nearly falling backward. In fact, she probably would have done so were it not for something halting her backward motion.  
  
Or some _one_.  
  
 _"Uh, hi."_    
  
Era quickly regained her composure (and balance) and brushed off her clothes and looked toward the Slytherin who caught her.  _"Hi,"_  she said back to them, clearly in a half-hearted attempt to play off what just happened.  
  
 _"Virgil, why did you run off?"_  another Slytherin, clearly accompanying the Slytherin who caught Era, inquired in Virgil's direction.  
  
"Neither of you wrote the note, which means I'm still in trouble..."   
  
 _"Whoa. Hold the phone here. What note? And who are these guys?"_  Era gestured to the two Slytherins.  
  
 _"Oh, Era Kastrati! You look so much more relaxed when you are blurting out doomsday prophecies in the middle of the Entrance Hall stairs!"_  one of the Slytherins piped up.   
  
 _"...smooth, Shane."_  The Slytherin who caught Era rolled their eyes.  _"Elliott, resident Slytherin enby."_  They waved.   
  
 _"Oh, uh. Shane. You might know me as the guy who got carted off to St. Mungo's after being cursed in his own bed last year!"_  Shane smiled and gave a cheerful wave of his own.  
  
 _"Era Kastrati, the Seer who had her first prophecy in the middle of the Entrance Hall where half the school could see it. You might have heard of me,"_  Era answered sardonically.  
  
 _"If we're doing introductions...Astrit Zhupan. The boy who vanished for several weeks last year,"_ Astrit joined in.  
  
That left only Virgil, who glanced around at the others and cleared his throat. "Virgil, secret Seer, brother of the notorious Hogwarts Curser and current fugitive Lionel Thompson, more commonly known by his moniker of Deceit."  
  
 _"You know, if I've learned anything from this interaction it's that Hogwarts seriously needs to put some extra consideration into the protocols it has put into place for student safety..."_  Elliott observed.  
  
 _"Wait...Virgil, I think you might have accidentally said more than you meant to,"_  Era frowned, her gaze trailing from Virgil over to the other two Slytherins to join them.  
  
"Nah, remember when I mentioned that Shane wanted to talk to me before break? That's what he wanted to talk to me about. He and Elliott figured out that I was a Seer from what they overheard a couple of months ago. So don't worry, they're in the know." Virgil shrugged. He still wasn't sure exactly how he  _felt_  about the two being in the know, but he supposed that other than their tight-knit group of friends who ventured into the Forbidden Forest the year before, Elliott and Shane probably  _were_  his closest (if not only) other friends.  
  
 _"Oh! That reminds me! I wanted to talk to you guys about something! Remember that cursed necklace that you had last year, Virgil?"_  Astrit blurted out at once.  
  
Elliott and Shane gaped.  
  
 _"Cursed...necklace?"_  Elliott shifted his gaze from Astrit to Virgil.  
  
 _"Lemme guess...they knew about the Seer thing but not the cursed necklace,"_  Era remarked with a slightly amused grin.

 _"...my curiosity is piqued..."_  Elliott remarked, exchanging a glance with Shane before looking back toward the other three.  
  
They, of course, would be expected to  _elaborate_  about the cursed necklace. The problem inherent in this task was that all three of them were still coping with the after effects of what happened beneath the Forbidden Forest at the end of the prior school year.  
  
"Remember when you told me never to touch a cursed object? There was a reason why I said I couldn't make any promises," Virgil gave a weak, wry smile.  
  
Shane's eyes widened at once.  _"No way. You had a cursed object too? Why didn't you wind up in St. Mungo's? And...that makes two purebloods he targeted..."_  
  
"Not quite," Virgil interrupted. "The necklace fell from Patton's things and I picked it up thinking he'd dropped it. I think Deceit placed it on Patton. Patton's a Muggleborn. Makes total sense Deceit would go after him. Not only as a Muggleborn, but as the best friend of Deceit's younger brother who he suddenly found he could no longer manipulate and control." Bitterness seeped into Virgil's tone at the thought. He was glad Patton never had to touch that necklace, but the thought that Patton might have gone through everything that  _he_  went through? It didn't just upset Virgil. It  _angered_  him.   
  
 _"And he didn't end up in St. Mungo's because...Virgil, do you want to explain or would you prefer I do it?"_  Era's voice was a little shaky, but otherwise relatively even. Virgil's shoulders were hunched inward, and his eyes darted toward Astrit, who looked similarly shaken.  
  
Virgil didn't particularly want to force Era to do it, but he wasn't certain that he or Astrit would be  _able_  to get through the explanation on their own.  
  
Taking his silence as an answer, Era began her explanation.  _"The necklace was not one designed to cause personal injury or death. I'm still not certain what sort of course would manifest the effects that the necklace had on Virgil, but it...you're both aware of Astrit's disappearance last year right?"_  She looked to both Shane and Elliott for their answers. When they both nodded, she continued.  _"A dark wizard was responsible for that. You may or may not have heard about that part too."_  
  
Elliott nodded.  _"I did. I always wondered how a dark wizard got onto school grounds to capture Astrit in the first place. You'd think there would be safeguards against that..."_  
  
 _"There are,"_  Astrit remarked, speaking up for the first time in a while.  _"They're not foolproof but there are enchantments on Hogwarts for our protection. Those enchantments don't work when the threat is already within Hogwarts grounds."_  
  
 _"The dark wizard was here? At Hogwarts?!"_  Shane's eyes widened.  
  
"That's where the cursed necklace comes in," Virgil added quietly. "The necklace...it..."  
  
 _"It...whatever it did, the dark wizard could seize control of Virgil's body."_  
  
 _"I've never seen a dark object like it before,"_  Era cut in, noting how difficult it was for Virgil and Astrit to talk about their experiences.  
  
 _"...so when I said you sounded like you were possessed by a demon when you were giving that prophecy..."_  Shane remarked.  
  
"Yeah. That hit a bit close to home," Virgil responded.  
  
 _"My bad. I'm sorry."_  
  
"Not like you knew," Virgil shrugged.   
  
Astrit cleared his throat, pulling a book out of his bag.  _"While we're on the subject..I think we should all meet at the usual place."_  
  
 _"We're new here, we don't know where the usual spot is..."_  Shane pointed out.   
  
 _"He's not talking to us, that's why,"_  Elliott explained.  
  
 _"Actually..."_  Era murmured, looking at the two Slytherins.  _"You already know most of the story at this point. And there's always strength in numbers. Why don't you join us?"_  
  
Elliott shifted where they stood.  _"I suppose..."_  
  
 _"We'd love to come!"_  Shane smiled broadly.  _"Where's the usual spot?"_  
  
"Abandoned classroom on the fourth floor. The one near the painting of Merlin," Virgil explained.   
  
 _"Good. Let's meet up there after dinner tonight."_  Astrit grinned.  _"I think I worked out who the dark wizard we encountered last year was."_


	35. Chapter 35

Virgil and Logan were the first and second to arrive to the fourth floor classroom the next day. Roman and Patton arrived soon after. Era and Paige came next, followed by Astrit. The last to arrive were Shane and Elliott.  
  
Roman immediately sprang to his feet.  _"Halt! This is a private meeting!"_  
  
Era shook her head and let out a long sigh.  _"A private meeting they were invited to."_  
  
Roman glanced back at Elliott and Shane in befuddlement.  _"Them? But...they're Slytherins!"_  
  
"Glad to see your eyes are working properly, Princey," Virgil remarked with his arms folded across his chest. "And what's wrong with their being Slytherins?"  
  
_"I mean they're...I...Deceit's a...and my brothers..."_  Roman spluttered.  
  
_"Slytherin had a dark reputation that, unfortunately, some of its members contribute to. That being said, one of your closest friends is a Slytherin. You should know that one's house is not a determination of one's character,"_  Logan challenged.  
  
_"They're friends with Virgil. They've known, or at least suspected, that Virgil is a Seer for weeks now. And they haven't told anyone. I think that proves they're trustworthy enough to include in our group,"_  Era added.  
  
_"Besides, wasn't Shane one of Deceit's victims last year?"_  Paige observed.  
  
Roman paused, clearly considering their points. He began to sit back down, but paused in the middle of doing so. He then crossed the room, stopping in front of Elliott and Shane.  
  
Virgil watched the scene unfold with wary eyes. He and Roman were closer after their discussion regarding their families, but if Roman insisted on treating Elliott and Shane badly...  
  
Roman held out his hand. Shane slowly reached out and met Roman's hand. Roman gave Shane's hand a firm shake, then did the same to Elliott. Once they were done shaking hands, Roman spoke.  _"My sincerest apologies, I should not have jumped to conclusions like that. I am sorry for the way that you have suffered at the hands of Deceit, and would like to offer you a hearty welcome to our group."_  
  
Virgil shifted in his seat, gazing downward, but smiling slightly nevertheless. He supposed Roman wasn't the only one who needed a lesson in not jumping to conclusions.  
  
Once everyone was settled into their seats, Astrit pulled the same book from the day before out of his bag and cleared his throat.  _"As some of you may already know...I've been doing some research into my family history on my mother's side."_  
  
_"Why?"_  Shane asked.  
  
_"When Astrit was under the Imperius Curse last year, he referred to the Dark Wizard possessing Virgil as his great great grandfather,"_  Logan explained.

 _"And I believe that I've worked out exactly which great great grandfather it was. Mama's family was never really all that deep into the Dark Arts the way some pureblood families are, but I asked around. Tetka Jasna..."_  
  
_"What now?"_  Patton blinked in confusion.  
  
_"My Great-Aunt Jasna, my grandfather's sister. She's the family historian,"_  Astrit clarified, then retrieved a blank sheet of paper and began to draw something.

 _"He would be my grandmother's grandfather if I recall correctly. His name was Dalibor Petrović, and it is suspected that he developed an interest in the Dark Arts around the time of World War 1,"_  Astrit wrote Dalibor's name on the paper in front of him, then wrote '1905'. Virgil assumed this was Dalibor's year of birth.  
  
_"Why World War 1?"_  Logan inquired.  
  
_"My mother's family hails from Serbia. Serbia, as you probably already know, was heavily involved in the war effort. This included Muggles and wizards alike. From what I've seen, Dalibor wished to join, but he was too young to do so during the war. He was bitter, so he turned his bitterness toward something he felt more productive."_  
  
"The Dark Arts," Virgil murmured in a low voice.  
  
Astrit nodded.  _"The Dark Arts. He showed a heavy interest when he was younger, though this interest seemed to subside somewhat once he married and had a child."_  
  
_"What makes you think he's our guy then?"_  Elliott questioned.  
  
_"Yeah...if he stopped doing anything related to the Dark Arts once he had a family..."_

Shane frowned.

 _He may have just gotten better at hiding it,"_  Roman pointed out.

_He wouldn know, wouldn't he? His family is like mine,_  Virgil thought.

_"That, and he disappeared when my great grandfather - his son- was five years old. No one ever heard from him again,"_  Astrit revealed.

Everyone fell silent at that.

 "So he was either killed or, more likely, sunk deeper into the Dark Arts than ever," Virgil muttered darkly.  
  
_"I see you've reached the same conclusion that I did,"_  Astrit replied.  
  
_"...h-ow is this even possible?"_  Shane stammered.  _"If he was born in the early 1900s, he should either be extremely old or dead. How did he manage to enchant an object to possess someone like that?"_  
  
_"Oh, I'm certain he was dead,"_  Era stated.  
  
_"How can you be..."_  Patton protested, only to be cut off by Era.  
  
_"He said he needed Astrit to get his body back. If he wasn't dead, he would still have a body, wouldn't he? He wouldn't need to possess Virgil and kidnap Astrit."_

_"I have a theory as to how he might have accomplished this, but I need to..."_  Logan began carefully.  
  
_"Lemme guess, you need to do some research?"_  Paige asked in a teasing tone. Logan nodded in response.  
  
_"Well, let us know when or if you find anything,"_  Roman rose to his feet and stretched.  _"I need to be off for one of my club meetings."_  
  
_"We should probably head out too. Professor Avenir gave out tons of homework,"_  Elliott rolled their eyes.  
  
The meeting was thereafter adjourned. For the first time, once parting with Patton and Paige at the bottom of the staircase, Virgil was joined by Elliott and Shane.  
  
The three made small talk...or at least Shane and Elliott did. Virgil chimed in occasionally, but remained quiet the majority of the time.  
  
_"You okay?"_  Shane asked as Virgil made his way toward the stairs to the dormitories.  
  
"Yeah, think I'm gonna head up a bit early. Maybe do some homework in there," Virgil explained.  
  
Elliott and Shane exchanged skeptical glances, and Virgil instantly realized why. "I'm fine. This isn't a repeat of what happened a couple months ago," he let out a snort.  
  
The two other Slytherins relaxed considerably and bid Virgil goodnight.  
  
Virgil shook his head with a slight smile as he ascended the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I owe KokoScripsit for his/her help with much of Dalibor's history. <3


	36. Chapter 36

_Virgil was working alone in his dorm on an essay for Defense Against the Dark Arts. His thoughts went back to the note on his bed, a shiver going through him. If neither Shane nor Elliott was responsible, who was?  
  
An unfamiliar noise echoed through the room, startling Virgil. He glanced warily across the dormitory, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Perhaps Storm, or someone else's pet?  
  
"Virgil Thompson," an unfamiliar voice whispered from beside him. Virgil jumped, his hand immediately slipping into his pocket to retrieve his wand.   
  
A figure stood beside the bed, shrouded by darkness. A man, Virgil would venture a guess, judging by the sound of his voice.   
  
"So quick to defend yourself. Respectable. Too bad there's little you can do," the man spoke, moving closer to Virgil. And yet his features were still no clearer._   
  
_Virgil's grip on his wand tightened._   
  
_"You will not be rid of me so easily. You and I are intertwined in our fates. You did not think this was over, after what happened beneath the Forbidden Forest?"_   
  
_Virgil's blood felt like ice in his veins. "D-Dalibor Petrović."_   
  
_The figure nodded, and though he could not see the man's features he had an awful feeling that the man was smirking in savage amusement._   
  
_"So you can fight me all that you want, but remember..." Dalibor Petrović leaned in. Virgil could not will himself to move. He could barely will himself to breathe. "Ghosts from the past continue to haunt. Sacrifices need be made. The road ahead is not easy, but those who are deserving will be rewarded..."_

_Virgil's eyes flew open as he inhaled sharply. He immediately sat up in his bed, his heart pounding like mad. He reached a hand under his nightshirt and placed it on his chest so that he could feel his own heartbeat, as if he needed some sort of reminder that his heart was actually beating and that he wasn't going to die._  
  
He was alone. Dalibor was nowhere in sight. It was just another one of his...nightmares?  
  
He'd never had one like that before, though. He supposed it made sense that his dreams were more detailed now that they had a name for the 'Dark Wizard', but the dream touched on a very pressing fear of Virgil's - someone knew his secrets. Someone who had access to his dorm, to be able to leave such a note within. He didn't feel one hundred percent safe in his own sleeping quarters - for the second time in as many years.   
  
Virgil quickly pulled on some clothes than made his way out of the Slytherin dormitories. He wondered whether he should inform his friends of his most recent nightmare or not. They would undoubtedly fuss over the whole thing, which would be awkward - but he didn't want to neglect to mention it entirely only to discover that his dream meant something.  
  
He supposed he ought to at the very least mention that Dalibor's parting words within the dream, the last thing Virgil heard from the wizard before waking up, were the words of the prophecy Era gave earlier in the school year.  
  
Ghosts of the past could very well refer to Dalibor himself.

He swept through the Slytherin Common Room, but saw no sign of Elliott and Shane within. He wasn't sure he wanted Shane and Elliott to be the first he told about his most recent nightmare, so perhaps it was for the best. It was nothing against the two other Slytherins, who Virgil liked well enough and who'd more than proven themselves trustworthy by keeping some of Virgil's deepest secrets; they weren't his  _closest friends_ , though, the ones who were  _there_  for the events in the Forbidden Forest the year before.

Virgil left the Slytherin Common Room and headed for the library. He was supposed to meet Logan for a study session there, and figured he could tell Logan about his dream once he got there.  
  
Logan was already there when he arrived, and he looked impatient - more impatient than usual, at any rate.  
  
"What?" He glanced down at his watch, which told him that he was actually a few minutes early. "I'm on time, unless I got the time wrong?" Which was certainly a possibility. Ugh, he thought he double checked, but maybe he remembered wrong...he should have triple checked.

 _"You're not late to our arrangement, Virgil, I merely wished to tell you that I am closer to figuring out how Mr. _Petrović_ exerted his influence over you,"_  Logan explained.  _"I would like to borrow that book on the Dark Arts that you were reading last year, the one that you took from your father's library?"_  
  
"Oh, uh, of course. Why that one in particular?" Virgil responded, making a mental note to grab the book the next time he was in his dorm.  
  
 _"The Hogwarts library is lacking definitive information on the subject that I wish to delve into. It is particularly dark magic,"_  Logan continued.  
  
"I'll get it from my dorm later," Virgil assured him.  
  
Logan nodded.  _"Well then, I suppose we should get to our homework..."_  
  
"Not yet," Virgil interrupted, much to Logan's bewilderment. "I...should probably mention that...I had a dream about our friend the dark wizard last night."  
  
Logan nodded.  _"I see."_  
  
"...I see? That's all you're going to say to that?!"  
  
 _"Virgil, I am well aware that you have repeated dreams concerning what happened at the end of our 5th year..."_  
  
Oh. Logan thought he was referring to  _those_  nightmares. "No...I mean, it's related to last year, but...not? I was in my dorm studying, and he appeared next to my bed. He was standing in the shadows. I couldn't see his face or make him out but...it was him. I asked him," Virgil swallowed.  
  
 _"...oh. Oh my. I imagine that could have been brought on by our recent discussions,"_  Logan hypothesized.  
  
"The last thing he said before I woke up were the last few sentences of the prophecy Era made at the start of the school year."  
  
Logan looked thoughtful.  _"That was the one that spoke of ghosts from the past, was it not? Ghosts like Dalibor Petrović himself?"_  
  
Virgil nodded. "I see you're thinking along the same lines I am."  
  
 _"Well, great minds do think alike,"_  Logan shrugged.  
  
"You're giving me way too much credit there. You're the great mind," Virgil assured him.  
  
 _"Your propensity toward self deprecation is as uncompromising as always,"_  Logan commented dryly before letting out a sigh.  _"In any case' I am inclined to believe that what you had was a nightmare triggered by recent events."_  
  
"But what if it was a warning?"  
  
Logan took a sharp inhale before steepling his fingers together in front of him.  _"Then we cross that bridge when we come to it."_


	37. Chapter 37

_"Do you have any brothers or sisters, Virgil?"_  Toby asked him one day as the first year tagged along with Virgil and Patton on the their way back up to the castle from Care of Magical Creatures. Toby himself was just leaving Flying class. He did not envy the younger student in the least. Virgil  _hated_  flying class. It took him forever to get into the air, he fell off his broom soon after the first time he climbed onto it, and once he was (finally) able to maintain any sort of height on his broomstick, the sinking feeling in his gut as he looked down made him realize that flying was absolutely  _not his preferred method of travel_.  
  
Patton shot Virgil an apologetic look. Toby hadn't heard much about Deceit, then. It stood to reason. Patton and Toby were Muggleborns, and Toby was five years younger than them, leaving him fairly unaware of the gossip that passed between older students at the school.  
  
"Yeah. I do. Lionel. He...should have been a seventh year," Virgil told the younger boy.  
  
 _"Should have been? What happened to him?"_  Toby questioned in that quiet voice of his.  
  
"He...got into really big trouble," Virgil explained.  
  
 _"How?"_  
  
Virgil cast a pleading glance in Patton's direction.

 _"He broke a lot of school rules and got expelled, kiddo,"_  Patton explained.  
  
Toby frowned.  _"You just don't wanna tell me what he did, do you? Cause I'm a kid."_  
  
...well, Toby had them there. "He attacked other students here. Cursed them. Some of them bad enough that they had to go to St. Mungo's. One of them was my friend Shane," Virgil explained.  
  
 _"I guess that makes..."_  Toby started.  
  
 _"Hey Tobe, we hardly ever see you anymore! Come play with us!"_  a voice identical to Toby's called out.  
  
It was either Seth or Augustine...Virgil had a difficult time distinguishing the two, especially when they were both wearing their Hufflepuff robes.  
  
 _"Hey Pat! Hey Virge!"_  the other piped up.  
  
Patton beamed and waved.  _"Seth!"_  So the one who called out to them was Seth, while the other boy was Augustine. Patton  _would_  have an easier time of it, being their older brother and growing up with them."[/i]  
  
Virgil and Patton watched as Toby went to join his brothers, then continued on their way toward the castle. He didn't look particularly enthused about doing so, but he could hardly pretend he hadn't seen or heard them, not when Patton responded to Seth's greeting.  
  
 _"It's good to see them playing every once in a while. I know they don't see that much of each other with Toby being a Slytherin, but it's still cute. Too bad I left my camera back in my dorm. Baby pictures for my parents! They'd love 'em!"_  Patton mimed snapping a picture and then placed his fingers in the shape of a frame around the three boys goofing off in the distance.

"They're not exactly babies, Pat. They're what, eleven years old?" Virgil pointed out.  
  
 _"Twelve, actually. They had their birthdays last fall!"_  Patton replied, a huge smile on his face.  
  
"That makes them only five years younger than us! Speaking of birthdays, yours is coming up on the 15th isn't it?" Virgil tilted his head slightly.  
  
 _"It is! I'm glad you remembered!"_  
  
"I  _am_  your best friend. I'd kinda be a shitty friend if I didn't remember," Virgil shrugged. He didn't think it was that big of a deal that he remembered Patton's birthday. He'd already bought a gift for Patton, a stuffed puppy to match the stuffed cat that Patton gave him for his birthday. Logan purchased a cat hoodie for him after asking Virgil for advice on what to choose.  
  
...why Logan thought that  _Virgil_  would be the best person to ask whether or not an item was sufficiently 'cutesy' for Patton, Virgil wasn't entirely sure. 'Cutesy' didn't really go with Virgil's aesthetic most of the time, with the exception of his penchant for cats and cat related objects - he supposed he and Patton did have that much in common at least, and that was probably why Logan asked Virgil for help in choosing a  _cat_  hoodie.  
  
Okay,  _fine_ , Virgil did enjoy cute things more than he would admit to most people.   
  
Why else would he be best friends with Patton?  
  
 _"Language, kiddo,"_  Patton said warningly.   
  
Virgil let out a snort. "You're still not technically of age yet, watch who you're calling kiddo, kiddo," he teased back. He didn't have much of a leg to stand on when he was less than a month older than Patton, but at least he  _was_ older.  
  
"What do you want for your birthday anyway? And you better not say a puppy. We're not allowed to have them at Hogwarts. Or a cat, you know you're allergic," Virgil arched an eyebrow.  
  
 _"As cute as a puppy or kitten would be, I'm happy just knowing my friends and family are here and safe,"_  Patton shrugged, a soft smile on his face.  _"Oh, and Roman's taking me on a date to Madam Puddifoot's in Hogsmeade!"_  
  
"That does sound nice," Virgil agreed, despite he and Logan  reaching a mutual agreement on a separate occasion that the two of them would never step foot in Madam Puddifoot's unless they were forced to at wandpoint.

The two were almost to the castle doors when they heard a shout from behind them.  
  
 _"Patton! PATTON!"_  
  
Patton turned at the sound of his name being called, the voice belonging to one of the triplets. Virgil, as usual, wasn't sure which of the three it actually was, and turning around to see didn't help much either, as the triplet in question was wearing yellow Hufflepuff robes.  
  
And he looked  _panicked_.  
  
 _"Patton, Virgil, please hurry. He's in trouble,"_  the boy's face was pale, his eyes wide in terror.   
  
 _"Who's in trouble, August?"_  Patton asked his younger brother as the two set off back in the direction of the Great Lake, Virgil close enough behind them that he could hear Augustine's response as clear as day.  
  
 _"It-it's Toby. He was attacked by a snake."_


	38. Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for bullying behavior. There will also be a longer note at the end of this.

Virgil, Patton, Augustine, and Seth stood in the hall outside of the Hospital Wing. They were attempting to treat Toby with the resources that they had within the Hospital Wing. If that did not work, however, they would have to send the boy to St. Mungo's - a prospect that brought Patton to tears when he heard it.  
  
Yet Patton put on a strong face in front of Seth and Augustine. He understood why, of course. The two first years were already upset enough that their brother was in the Hospital Wing. Patton was their older brother, their rock, the closest thing they had to their parents while away at Hogwarts.   
  
That didn't stop Virgil from eying Patton cautiously in an attempt to make sure that his best friend did not overextend himself in the effort. He did what he could to help, but also made a plan to step in if Patton looked as if he needed a breather at any point.  
  
The boys were both sniffling in the meantime.  
  
 _"Is Toby gonna be okay?"_  one of them asked.  
  
 _"The doctors in the Hospital Wing are doing their best to make him feel better!"_  Patton responded with an attempt at a comforting smile. It came off looking more like a grimace.  
  
 _"But what if he doesn't get better? What if he's hurt so bad that he stays hurt permanently?"_  the other protested.  
  
 _"D-Don't talk like that! We have to...we have to look on the bright side!"_  Patton attempted to reassure them in a steady voice, but Virgil was fairly certain he heard the Hufflepuff's voice crack.  
  
 _"He's in the Hospital Wing, what bright side is there?"_  
  
 _"This is all our fault!"_  one of them blurted out suddenly, leading to both Patton and his other brother falling silent.  
  
 _"...what do you mean it's your fault, kiddo? It's not your..."_  
  
 _"Yes it is! It's our fault he played with the snake!"_  
  
Patton looked taken aback, before placing his hands on his hips like a parental figure scolding his child.  _"Seth Ember Wright, you tell me right now what you mean by that."_  
  
Seth, the boy who blurting out the comment concerning the snake, fell silent.  
  
It was Augustine who answered for him. _"We might have...thrownthesnakeathimbecausehe'saSlytherin."_  
  
It took a moment for Virgil to process what they were saying. Once he did, an ill feeling settled into the pit of his stomach.  
  
 _"You...why would..."_  Patton looked at the two boys.  
  
 _"It was supposed to be for fun! Because Toby's a Slytherin and Slytherins are snakes! We thought it was just a harmless snake, like a garter snake!"_  Augustine cried.  
  
 _"We didn't know he'd get hurt,"_  Seth added, sobbing.  
  
 _"You shouldn't have done that to your brother! He might be in a different house, but that doesn't mean you need to throw snakes at him! How would you like it if he found a badger and threw it at you just because the two of you are Hufflepuffs?"_  Patton scolded.  
  
 _"Yeah, but a lot of Slytherins actually act like snakes. Hufflepuffs don't act like badgers,"_  Augustine said in an attempt to defend himself.

Virgil wanted to disappear. It was too bad that Apparition classes had yet to start (not that he would have been able to Apparate anyway, with the anti-Apparition charms on the school grounds).

_"The first thing you will do when Toby regains consciousness is apologize to him! What do you mean a lot of Slytherins act like snakes? Virgil here is a Slytherin! Does he remind you of a snake? Would you throw a snake at him?"_

Both younger boys glanced over at Virgil, their brother's best friend. Someone who immediately jumped into action to help get Toby to the Hospital Wing so that he could be tended to, a decidedly  _not snake-like_ action.

 _"We...we're the ones who did something bad,"_ Augustine said at last, shrinking in on himself a little bit.  _"And Toby is hurt because of it."_

Patton let out a sigh.  _"Yes. Yes he is. I hope that this will lead you to think before doing something like that in the future, especially to your own brother,"_ Patton shook his head, disappointment seeping into his tone.  
  
 _"We're sorry,"_  Seth mumbled.  _"We shouldn't have done that to him. It wasn't nice, even as a joke."_  
  
 _"No, you shouldn't have,"_  Patton agreed.  _"...but I do believe that you never intended for something like this to happen to your brother."_

The boys hurriedly shook their heads. As much as Virgil bristled at their comments about his house, their  _assumptions_ about Slytherin as a whole (because while the boys said 'snake-like', Virgil could tell that what they really meant was  _evil_ )? He only had to take one look at the twelve-year-olds to realize that they were as distraught about what happened to their brother as Patton and Virgil were. They may have played a nasty prank, but they'd  _meant_ it as a nasty prank. They hadn't meant to send their brother to the Hospital Wing, and now they were worried about their brother's fate. Hopefully they learned their lesson.

 _"He's gonna be okay, isn't he?"_ Seth asked in a repeat from earlier.

 _"We honestly have no way of knowing, Seth. Clearly that wasn't a harmless garter snake._ _You do know I'm going to have to tell mom and dad about what happened?"_ Patton sounded wearier than Virgil ever heard him, and for the first time Virgil realized that being the older brother to five siblings probably wasn't always a walk in the park.

Augustine and Seth both nodded, Augustine wiping a few stray tears from his cheeks while Seth sniffed. Patton placed his arm around Augustine's shoulder and gave it a squeeze before doing the same to Seth.

The door to the Hospital Wing opened, and the Head Healer came out. Her face was grim, and Virgil's heart sank as he braced himself for whatever bad news the Head Healer had for them. _"He is not reacting to any of the anti-venom that we have. We're going to have to send him to St. Mungo's."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay...so, my intent in this was to show that what Augustine and Seth did to their brother was WRONG, but not to pass them off as terrible people - so I hope this doesn't come across as me trying to villainize them - nor pass off what they did as nothing. What they did to their brother was still wrong, and I'm not trying to excuse that. That said, I also consider there to be a major difference between two twelve-year-olds pulling a nasty prank that goes horribly wrong and someone who would intentionally attack someone with the intent to do grievous harm (like some of the actual full-blown villains in this story), and I was trying to show the difference here. I don't know if I did the greatest job of that, but that was my intent at least.


	39. Chapter 39

St. Mungo's proved as unsuccessful at treating Toby's ailment as the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts did, though they were better equipped than the Hospital Wing to treat Toby for the symptoms that they could observe.   
  
 _"They can keep him stable, but they can't cure him until they find out what kind of snake bit him."_ Patton explained to his friends with a tremble in his voice.  _Seth and Augustine told the Healers at St. Mungo's what they could, but it wasn't enough to...they're still trying to..."_  At that, Patton dissolved into near inconsolable sobs. Roman pulled him close and put his arms protectively around his boyfriend, glancing at the others with a worried expression.  
  
The mood in the room was somber. It was hard to think of anything to say when even fully-trained wizard adults didn't know what they could do to help Toby with what little information they had.  
  
The group parted with little fanfare after their meeting. Even Elliott and Shane, newcomers to their group of friends, were cognizant of how recent events were impacting the group as a whole.  
  
 _"If there was something I could do...Toby always seemed like a cute kid,"_  Elliott frowned.  
  
"He didn't  _seem_  like a cute kid, he  _is_  a cute kid," Virgil snapped before he could stop himself. He wasn't mad at Elliott, but hearing Toby referred to in the past tense as if it was a done deal that he would eventually succumb to the snake's venom bristled him in a way that he didn't expect.  
  
Elliott, to their credit, realized this and instantly backtracked.  _"I didn't mean it like that, I just mean from what I've seen of him. Y'know, since I don't know him that well."_  They shifted where they stood.  
  
Virgil sighed. "I know, it's just... _Merlin_ , I thought we were done with this. First the cursings last year, now two people I know have already wound up in St. Mungo's  _this_  year..."  
  
Elliott's eyes widened and they stopped walking. It took a moment for Virgil and Shane to notice, but when they did, they both paused and glanced back at Elliott.  
  
 _"Elliott? Are you okay?"_  Shane asked them.  
  
 _"Virgil's right. Two people he knows have wound up in St. Mungo's already this year. What if what happened to Toby wasn't an accident?"_  Elliott cast a worried glance in Virgil's direction.  
  
Virgil blinked. Despite his penchant for considering the worst of most scenarios, that was something he admittedly hadn't considered - until now. "What happened to my mom makes sense. Someone broke into our flat and attacked her. But what happened to Toby...that...that was different."  
  
Elliott narrowed their eyes slightly.  _"How do you know? How do you know that someone didn't set that snake after Toby?"_  
  
"Someone  _did_  set that snake after Toby," Virgil explained. Elliott narrowed their eyes even further. "But it was his own brothers. They weren't trying to kill him, they were just trying to prank him. I know it wasn't nice of them, but I don't think they were actively trying to poison him. They were utterly devastated when they found out what happened."  
  
Elliott's countenance relaxed considerably, yet they still looked a tad wary.  _"They still shouldn't have done that..."_  
  
"No, they shouldn't, and they agree. Believe me, between Patton and the heavy guilt they've had to shoulder since this happened, I think they've learned their lesson. No more pranks like that," Virgil assured them.  
  
 _"But why was a poisonous snake on Hogwarts grounds?"_  Shane interjected.  
  
"Venomous," Virgil corrected.  
  
 _"Venomous?"_  Shane repeated.  
  
"Venomous. If you bite it and you get sick, it's poisonous. If it bites you and you get sick, it's venomous," Virgil explained, then paused for a moment as he realized what he did. "...I've been spending too much time around Logan lately," he groaned, placing his face in his hands.  
  
Elliott managed a chuckle, which made it all worth it in Virgil's opinion, but their face fell back into a frown soon after.  _"This still seems awfully suspicious to me. Especially since that proph..."_  Elliot froze in mid sentence as a professor walked by.  _"...essor, that professor assigned us so much homework. I mean, why would they do that unless they were planning on giving us a surprise quiz the next time we're in class?"_  
  
"Right? We should definitely get back to the Common Room and do some studying," Virgil added, playing along as he watched the professor turn the corner.  
  
Elliott sighed in relief, but lowered their voice just in case someone else came by.  _"Just about every prophecy you and Era have made this year mention snakes, don't they?"_  They hissed.  
  
"They do...so you think this may have been foreseen by the prophecy? That this was all intentional? That someone  _made sure_  that snake was there so that it would go after Toby?" Virgil questioned.  
  
Elliott nodded.   
  
"That's...that's actually a theory worth looking into. We should bring that up to the others," Virgil agreed.   
  
Shane's face fell.  _"Now we have to worry about snakes going around attacking people? Weren't the cursed objects last year enough?"_  
  
Virgil couldn't blame Shane for being upset. After all, Shane suffered at the hands of the cursed objects the year before firsthand, as had Virgil himself.   
  
Besides, he was upset too. Upset that Toby was hurt, upset that there might be a darker force at play than just two twelve-year-old boys playing a mean prank on their brother, upset that his and/or Era's prophecies might have foreseen this and that, as usual, they were unable to decipher the contents of said prophecies until it was too late.

He was also frustrated with himself for not considering the nature of the attack until Elliott pointed it out. He tried his best to  _protect_  those that he cared about, and though Toby was Patton's younger brother rather than Virgil's own, Toby still fell into this category by default. Yet Virgil hadn't even considered the possibility that this was a calculated attack until Elliott mentioned it.   
  
Logan might insist that Virgil had a talent for Defense Against the Dark Arts, but what good was that talent if he failed to recognize the Dark Arts in time to defend against them?


	40. Chapter 40

The next week passed with no news concerning Toby. Patton frequently wrote letters to his parents, but there were no changes to Toby's condition. Patton's parents attempted to place a request that Toby be moved to a Muggle hospital so that they could visit him easier, but the request was denied. Toby was likely bitten by a snake endemic to the wizarding world, meaning that a Muggle hospital would not be equipped to properly handle Toby's care.  
  
As such, Patton's parents were staying on the ward at St. Mungo's the majority of the time. It was easier than traversing back and forth to London.  
  
Patton attempted to act as if everything was normal, but the others confronted him about it one day.  
  
 _"What are you talking about? I'm doing great! I'm your happy pappy Patton!"_  he protested.  
  
 _"Your brother is in the hospital. It's okay to be upset. Trust me, I've been there, done that, and could probably write the book on it,"_  Era told him. After all, she'd been through something similar. Her brother was missing, then once he returned he lingered in the Hospital Wing for several days. Indeed, if  _anyone_  knew how Patton felt, it was Era.  
  
They still caught Patton attempting to pretend that everything was normal on occasion, but all it took was one reminder that it was  _okay_  not to be happy sometimes and he would drop the mask.  
  
That wasn't to say that all of Patton's smiles were fake. Patton did have genuinely happy moments during this time, especially when he was out with Roman on a date or hanging out with the group as a whole. But it did him little good to pretend that he wasn't worried sick for his little brother. Especially when the others were worried too.  
  
They got together for Patton's birthday in the usual abandoned classroom and exchanged gifts. Roman bought Patton a fancy promise ring, Virgil presented Patton with his stuffed dog, and Logan with the cat hoodie he'd purchased over the holidays.  
  
In addition to all of their individual gifts, the group decided to do something extra for Patton in light of everything that happened recently. They purchased a birthday card that each of them signed along with a heartfelt message. The initial idea was Paige's, and she purchased the card. It was passed between varying members of the group and presented to Patton by Paige after he opened all of his presents.  
  
Silence ensued as Patton read the card, clearly going through each and every signature. His eyes went wide, and he held a hand to his mouth. The more he read, the more watery his eyes grew, until the tears finally began to fall.  
  
 _"Patton, are you alright?"_  Logan eyed Patton in concern.

 _"I love you guys. Come here!"_ he held out his hands, beckoning for them to come closer.  
  
Some, like Roman, easily embraced the idea of a group hug. Others, like Virgil and Logan, joined in more reluctantly. Nevertheless, it was worth it to see the ear to ear smile on Patton's face at all  _nine_  of them piling on top of one another to join in the massive group hug.

As much as Virgil hoped for what he knew Patton  _really_  wanted for his birthday, Toby's condition remained unchanged, as evidenced by the letter he received from his parents earlier that day. He wished that there was something,  _anything_ that he could do to help Toby and Patton.

 _"I love you guys,"_  Patton repeated, drawing Virgil out of his reverie and back into the abandoned classroom on the fourth floor surrounded by friends.  _"It's too bad we have to go back to our Common Rooms soon, I'd like to spend the rest of my birthday with you guys."_  
  
Virgil frowned, about to reassure Patton that they wouldn't be far if he needed them, but he spotted something odd in his peripheral vision. A slowly growing smirk spreading across Roman's face.   
  
Virgil was understandably wary, slowly edging away from the Gryffindor. Roman sometimes had  _great_ ideas, but other times he had ideas that were fanciful to the point of utter ridiculousness. And it was hard to tell which option it would be until Roman opened his mouth.  
  
 _"What if I told you we don't have to go back to our Common Rooms?"_  Roman announced.  
  
Logan peered over his glasses at him in confusion.  _"Of course we do. Curfew is coming up soon."_  
  
 _"Yes, curfew. Implying that we shouldn't be out wandering the castle, lest we get caught by a prefect or professor doing so. But I have not seen any rules against having a sleepover in an abandoned classroom at Hogwarts,"_  Roman grinned.  
  
"A  _sleepover_? Really Princey?" Virgil raised an eyebrow.  
  
 _"I don't know, I think it's a good idea actually,"_  Paige looked across the room with a smile. At first Virgil thought that Paige was looking at Roman, but then he realized that she was looking slightly to the side of Roman.  
  
Patton. Patton, who was positively  _beaming_  at the thought of a sleepover with his friends on his birthday. Patton, who  _deserved_  a fun night with friends after going through so much in the preceding days.  
  
"Fine. Let's give it a shot," the corners of Virgil's mouth twitched upward as he saw Patton's expression brighten even further.  
  
It might not be Virgil's cup of tea, but it was a price that he was willing to pay to see that smile on Patton's face.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, in another area of the country, a young man sat at a table in a small room, reading a book. He glanced upward when he heard someone else enter the room.

A man of about fifty entered, taking a seat at the table across from the young man. The two men were similar in appearance, and it was not at all far-fetched to believe that the younger man would grow to look like the elder with the passage of time. The younger of the two set his book aside and regarded the elder with a nod.  
  
 _"Wonderful job with the boy,_ _Lionel, I am most impressed_ " the older man spoke, making certain that he had the younger's undivided attention before continuing. _"I trust that the time has come to put the next phase of our plan into motion?"_  
  
The corners of Lionel's mouth curved upward into a smirk.  _"I believe so, father."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...as you may be able to tell, Virgil and company's adventures are far from over. That said, this is already chapter 40 in this installment. So..I've decided to start another installment. It'll still be the same story and a continuation from where I am leaving off here, and you should not have to wait any longer for the next chapter...I've just decided to break it into parts, because otherwise I fear that this installment will end up being near to 100 chapters and that just feels like a bit too much. 
> 
> I do plan on posting a link to the next installment tomorrow (as I hope to post the next chapter tomorrow night) as a '41st chapter' of sorts, just to let you know ahead of time in case you need help finding the next part of the story! =) Thank you to everyone who has read this fic, and hope to see you over at the new installment soon enough!


	41. Chapter 41

Sorry to get anyone's hopes up if they though this was a chapter...in a fanfic that I completed a while back pfff. Actually, it's a picture! An  _amazingly done_ commission my friend CJ (@artistictaurean) did for me of the scene where Virgil and Logan are looking through Logan's telescope on New Years Eve in Chapter 29 of this fic. I thought I'd share it with you guys!


End file.
